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P OE T RY
Reading the Spanish Flu, 2020 By Richard Brait
(I) Someone who works for me stays at home, washes his hands two dozen times a day. My wife sits in front of the TV, watches and worries. I hide in my den and read about the Spanish Flu: Arthur Lapointe, his family gone. The tragic train from Quebec City to Vancouver. Grosse Ile, the quarantine island in St. Lawrence’s mouth. Okak, Labrador — winter — all the men dead, no one knew. My great great aunt Margaret home from India, tending tirelessly to the distressed and dying. Or should I join the herd and let it run — pick the best restaurants, the coppered bars, sing about the ruin of Troy while Rome burns?
(II) Arthur Lapointe, Soldier of Quebec, 1918
