The Greek God of Healing, Apollo, and the Hindu God of Medicine, Dhanwantri, wearing masks, look down on a deserted earth.
This disease we created—
To jolt humans—
Corona
Has reached the gods, said Apollo.
How? said Dhanwantri
You know Zeus can’t keep
his pants zipped.
Neither can Indra, sighed Dhanwantri
They will sleep with humans.
They think there are no consequences
For gods
Zeus’s throat is itchy
Causing a thunderstorm with every cough
Indra is sniffling
It rains every time he sneezes
The other gods are staying away
Court is closed
They’re clamoring for a cure
Humans have created a vaccine
Let’s try that on the gods?
Let them stew a while, I say
Give them time to repent their ways.
They’re breathing down our necks
I don’t want to get Corona
The gods wish a cure
We’ll give them placebos
They won’t know, for sure.
What about the weather?
There’s no one out to get wet
Humans have Corona to conquer
Don’t worry about it. ❏
Nupur Maskara is a freelance content writer in India. She received the Orange Flower Poetry Award in 2020, and her work has been anthologized in The Kali Project and published in magazines like Helter Skelter. She has authored two poetry books: Insta Gita: With Arjuna’s Perspective in Poetry and Insta Women: Dramatic Monologues by Drama Queens.
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