Pandemic Primary Source

I am confident that someone (you?)
is Documenting important facts
on disease vectors, death, deep
inequities grown visible as boulders
mountains too large to ignore

But, all this too–
All the tiny facts in our diaries and poems and lists
will become Pandemic Primary Sources.
Schoolchildren will be forced to read
the silly things we write today.
So, what do we want to tell them?
I’ll start:
Children, let it be known,
I have developed Strong Opinions
about fake Zoom backgrounds–
and though several doctoral candidates
will someday write about the psychological
implications of choosing Paris or a zoo–
Let it be said that I,
an ordinary person living in the middle
of your primary source material,
I want to see the real room
behind the person I’m talking to
And even then, know this, kids–
the whole time we talked
I wondered if they curated the contents
or if that picture was always on the wall.

And now, fellow primary source,
Write down something of your own
and see if you, too, are comforted
knowing that someday, someday
this will all be the past
and kids will have to study
whatever nonsense we say today
and call it History.