Sonnet composed while waiting for Anaphylaxis

Posted on 2021/05/17 by Bartholomew Barker

Sonnet composed while waiting for Anaphylaxis

I couldn’t be certain
I wasn’t already sick
and just not snuffling
so I wore my mask.

Every day I took my temperature
to see if it had raised
into the triple-digits
but I remained stubbornly cool.

Today a second dose of mRNA
was injected into my arm
so I will no longer fear
the contaminated air.

Tomorrow I want to feel sick in solidarity
with all you who built your antibodies the hard way.

(Besides the obvious real-life inspiration, this was also for to this week’s Living Poetry Prompt to write a poem containing the words “air”, “certain” and “raise”.)

About Bartholomew Barker

Bartholomew Barker is one of the organizers of Living Poetry, a collection of poets and poetry lovers in the Triangle region of North Carolina. Born and raised in Ohio, studied in Chicago, he worked in Connecticut for nearly twenty years before moving to Hillsborough where he makes money as a computer programmer to fund his poetry habit.

View all posts by Bartholomew Barker →

This entry was posted in Poetry and tagged antibodies, coronavirus, mrna, sick, vaccine. Bookmark the permalink.

20 Responses to Sonnet composed while waiting for Anaphylaxis

anitashope says:

2021/05/17 at 21:19

Hope it is not bad for you.

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- Bartholomew Barker says:
  
  2021/05/17 at 21:22
  
  Thanks. I kinda hope it is bad since that would be a sign my immune system is still strong.
  
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JeanMarie says:

2021/05/17 at 21:29

Yay! Good poem but don’t you dare get sick!

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- Bartholomew Barker says:
  
  2021/05/17 at 21:34
  
  Glad you liked it but if I don’t get sick, I’m not building defenses.
  
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Harley Reborn says:

2021/05/17 at 21:32

Best of luck to you. I just slept a bunch on the second one.

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- Bartholomew Barker says:
  
  2021/05/17 at 21:36
  
  Thanks. Maybe I’ll just make this my excuse to sleep in tomorrow.
  
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  - Harley Reborn says:
    
    2021/05/17 at 22:06
    
    Can I have one too?
    
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  - Bartholomew Barker says:
    
    2021/05/17 at 22:10
    
    Just tell them you’re taking care of me.
    
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  - Harley Reborn says:
    
    2021/05/18 at 22:12
    
    K be right over
    
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Kritika says:

2021/05/18 at 04:21

Hope you don’t get sick. Rest a lot.

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- Bartholomew Barker says:
  
  2021/05/18 at 19:14
  
  Thanks. It’s been more than 24 hours and no bad side-effects. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
  
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  - Kritika says:
    
    2021/05/19 at 02:25
    
    Great! Rest well. :)
    
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  - Bartholomew Barker says:
    
    2021/05/19 at 16:43
    
    Thanks. I’m still feeling fine.
    
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Patty says:

2021/05/18 at 10:41

Congratulations.

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- Bartholomew Barker says:
  
  2021/05/18 at 19:15
  
  Thanks though getting vaccinated isn’t much of an achievement these days.
  
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Ali Grimshaw says:

2021/05/20 at 21:38

I am grateful to be vaccinated fully. Take care.

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- Bartholomew Barker says:
  
  2021/05/20 at 21:41
  
  Thanks. I’ve still got eleven days to go.
  
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Benjamin Grossman says:

2021/05/25 at 12:45

Intriguing. Even more so because I am allergic to almost everything….. Stay safe! Hope it all goes well for you!

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- Bartholomew Barker says:
  
  2021/05/25 at 17:37
  
  That’s tough. I suffered from several allergies when I was a boy but I seem to have “grown out” of them. I can sympathize.
  
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  - Benjamin Grossman says:
    
    2021/05/25 at 17:39
    
    That’s awesome you grew out of them. Mine unfortunately have gone in the opposite direction. Thus, my nickname “bubble boy”. Again, hope you stay well!
    
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