To drive Omicron away, to sleep without fever dreams
To curl up inside the curves of the letters
To dream in Greek, to become one with the swerve
Remember the beginning was in words
In syllables and sounds, the Om Om Om
So to jettison the others, the “i” and the “cron”
Is how we keep from breaking down
So would think saintly Allen Ginsberg
And impish James Baldwin and how, yes,
They would exchange their state
To be right here with us, to share our fate
Back here on this infected planet
Even for a day, a minute, an hour
They knew well how to deal with sorrow
They knew how to take a curse
And turn it into the first sound in the universe
Would Jimmy give up his smoking, sure, you wish!
No more than Allen lead us in a national kaddish
No, they’d move right in to preach and chant across the land
Everyone together at the same time, hold hands
Across countries, cultures, alphabets, zones
Chanting Om, Om, Om, goodbye, omicron, Om Om
Sending out into all the respiring world that sound
Everyone together, in choruses, in rounds
Defang it, repurpose the name, say it, sing it today
Take back the letter, drive the disease away.