Upside Down World

Summary

The poem reflects on the surreal experience of the Covid-19 pandemic, initially perceived as a distant fiction akin to "Stranger Things," but ultimately becoming a harsh reality that necessitates vaccination and collective responsibility to overcome.

Abstract

The poem "Upside Down World" by CARMEN F MICSA captures the collective journey through the Covid-19 pandemic, highlighting the initial denial and subsequent realization of its severity. It touches on the hope that summer and vaccines would end the crisis, only to be met with resistance from those who prioritize personal freedom over community health. The author emphasizes the importance of vaccination and solidarity in the face of the pandemic's ongoing challenges, including new variants. The poem concludes with a call to action for readers to get vaccinated, enjoy life, and support each other, rather than succumbing to the metaphorical 'underworld' of the pandemic.

Opinions

The author initially believed, like many others, that Covid-19 would not significantly impact their lives, likening it to a fictional threat from "Stranger Things."
There is a critique of the slow acknowledgment of Covid-19's seriousness, with people reluctant to accept the reality of the pandemic.
The poem expresses frustration towards those who refuse to follow health guidelines, equating their actions with being dragged into an 'underworld.'
The author views the vaccine as a key tool in combating the pandemic and returning to normal life, criticizing those who choose not to get vaccinated.
There is an emphasis on the collective responsibility to protect each other and enjoy life fully, rather than being haunted by the consequences of the pandemic.
The poem suggests that ignoring the pandemic's severity and not adhering to health measures is akin to choosing to live in an 'underworld,' with potentially fatal outcomes.
The author promotes their new book and encourages Medium membership, suggesting that poetry and philosophy can offer solace and understanding during trying times.

A poem about our surreal Covid times — Two years later

When Covid-19 descended upon us in 2020 we thought it had little to do with our lives and that we would remain untouched, unperturbed in our upside world, since Covid must have belonged to Stranger Things — the down world — not ours.

But in spring of 2020, Covid had casted its cantankerous and highly contagious virus upon the entire world, dragging its citizens into its underground tunnels of clogged up coughs, while nobody wanted to acknowledge that this was a virulent virus and not a fiction version of Stranger Things.

Then summer came, and we thought that heat must be the answer to the underground world, while we continued to float above our upside universe digging deep into our science fiction stories of stranger things that only happened to strange people in faraway fantasy lands.

With 2021, the stranger Covid things would be again buried deep into the upside-down world, since we now had vaccines and could return to our “best Instagram-able lives,” as my friend Deirdre says on her podcast, while Covid could finally be relegated to Stranger Things of the strangest times.

Doing the happy dance and ditching masks we forgot that rule followers, the citizens caring for the greater good would be dragged down into the underworld by non-believers and the citizens who confused their freedom, or worse yet, chose to rebel against their obligations to protect others at all costs and fight for everyone’s enjoyment of the upside world, instead of being haunted by the creatures creeping up upon us with various variants from this world and not from Stranger Things.

With all the strangeness of our times, there is one true and tested way for all of us to remain in the upper worlds by getting our vaccines and booster shots and watching season four of Stranger Things, instead of living in the underworld, or worse yet: dying in the underworld, dying in the underworld…

Thanks so much for publishing my poem, reading, and getting vaccinated so that we start living our full lives, instead of dying in the underworld.

For more poetic musings and short form philosophy, please check out my new book Morsels of Love, A Book of Poetry and Short-Form that just got published. Enjoy!

If you like this article and want to read more such articles without any restrictions, why not consider becoming a Medium member (if you are not one already) by using my referral link below?