I wrote this poem because I was struck by the similarities between a fungal infection sweeping through bat colonies in America, and the Coronavirus itself moving at speed through the human population.
Part 1
Part 2
Is this how it is
For species expunged?
Now I see how it ends
At first fear, bewilderment,
Isolation.
‘Persevere,
For survival we fight’.
Behind stark concrete walls,
Authoritarian missives
Bleached interiors,
Searching for cures.
Vaccines, a surging hope,
Louder sounds the daily toll
So, to satiate that dead dark bell.
Mutants burst from parental soul,
To our beloved, we close the gate,
Desperate to hold at bay
That monster fell.
Now again, the doors are sealed.
Ventilators click and hiss,
To chest’s rise and fall.
The call to cure, a sacrifice.
A multitude despair,
In heart and mind,
Whilst others party on,
Blithe to fate.
So finally, will it be,
That outnumbered,
We, exhausted,
In groups,
Ones and twos
Alone, curl up
Bereft of fight?
This species
Exhales in a sigh.
And stop.
We have seen how it is,
For species expunged.
We hang from cliff and ledge.
In fear, bewildered,
We huddle closer.
In dark cavern,
Suspended we grip,
In terror of luminous glow.
A white muzzle, a glistening drop
Of fungal growth,
Crackling of an outstretched wing.
Some migrate
To a warmer clime
A surge of hope in erratic flight.
‘Till our contaminated,
Our beloved, follow too.
Again, we are put to wing
As fungal spores seal our fate.
In small clusters,
We clutch, embrace our young.
Inverted, we listen,
For rasp of breath.
Forced awake,
Our bodies we break,
Depleted, we,
No chance to sleep, hibernate.
So, finally,
exhausted,
In groups,
Ones and twos,
Alone,
In pain profound,
Close our wings.
‘Till chest’s rise and fall,
Subsides.
And we are gone.
Further Information
Seeing colonies of bats hanging, huddling close together on cliffs and in caves, the living next to the dead, with white fungus spreading across their muzzles, babies and adults alike, made me consider the similarities between this, and the effect on the human population of Coronavirus. Watching the news, seeing people on ventilators, families, incapable of helping loved ones, watching them die. The parallels that can be drawn, the part we have played in the spread of both, the possible outcomes, and the effect we have generally on the planet, for me, could clearly be seen.
In America this fungal Infection has caused the death of 90 to 100% percent of colonies infected. According to the U.S. Fisheries and Wildlife Service, to date approximately 6.7 million bats have died.
Bats have been linked with the spread of Coronavirus to the human population, but in truth it is our relentless invasion of territory inhabited by them and other animals that may have caused the transmission.
The fungal infection is called White Nose Syndrome, and manifests itself as a white fluffy fungus seen on the nose of the bat, and in the wings, leading to their deterioration. It leads to a change in the chemistry and metabolism of the bat, forcing them to use precious stores of fat stored for hibernation. They then wake up in a normal hibernation cycle desperate to search for food, and consequently die in winter or early spring. Breathing is affected, as are the condition of the wings causing unstable flight patterns and eventually death.
White Nose Syndrome is believed to have been exacerbated by cavers who enter caves, picking up the spores on their clothing and transmitting this to uninfected colonies. The damage to the climate, and wetter seasons also enable the fungus to spread.
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/bat_crisis_white-nose_syndrome/Q_and_A.html
https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/static-page/what-is-white-nose-syndrome
https://www.nps.gov/articles/what-is-white-nose-syndrome.htm#:~:text=White%2Dnose%20syndrome%20(WNS),likely%20exotic%2C%20introduced%20from%20Europe.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-33975-x