Peter Galen Massey

bird of the black death / in wingless waxed coat sweeping / thousands to the grave

The image of the plague doctor has been popular in Western culture for several centuries and is historically accurate. There really were plague doctors. The beaks of their bird masks were filled with fragrant herbs or sponges soaked in substances like vinegar, which were believed to protect the doctor from contracting the disease which was transmitted by miasma or foul air. The heavy leather coat had the same function as did the staff, which allowed the doctor to examine the patient in a manner and from a distance that was believed to be safe. The treatments plague doctors offered were ineffective but it’s possible their costumes did offer some protection from disease.

This isn’t my best haiku about death but it’s okay. The poem is overwritten, although the overwriting does capture the dramatic nature of the costume, and it doesn’t say anything new or surprising. The image is famous and can be found in many sources. These haiku about Covid-19 are also better poems and work as a sequence.