The world is closed
But our hospitals are open
Our faces are covered
But our fears are exposed.
Our heroes are abundant
In healthcare
at fire and police stations
at farms and at markets
at food banks and shelters
at take-out restaurants
And banks and in welfare offices
Postal offices and delivery services
These are our essential workers
Too often overlooked for their importance
But who are keeping us:
Alive
Our schools are closed
The books of life are open
Our teachers are home
Yet in many ways never closer
We are learning new lessons
The ones seldom given before
On resilience
Acknowledging one’s privilege
Loving our neighbors
& the true meaning of being
“in this together”.
Life is surreal
But death is very real
Loving our loved ones
Must be done at a distance.
Buildings no longer define
work spaces
Relationships and Zoom calls do.
We are finding a new rhythm
But the new normal is not normal.
We want to hug again
We crave physical touch
But the barriers are the only way out
To be together, we must stay:
Apart
There is fear
So much fear and sadness
of losing loved ones
of victims trapped at home
of seniors missing graduation
of elders getting infected in homes
of financial ruin & of business closings
of markets collapsing & supply chains breaking
of non-COVID medical conditions deteriorating
Because the world,
even the medical one,
is on a giant:
Pause
We grieve the way life was
Just weeks ago
We miss planning the next trip
the next concert
the next ballgame
the next dance
A wedding
The moment we can see our family in person
Not in a drive by from afar, or on a Zoom call.
Even, yes, to plan a funeral to allow a family closure.
We don’t know when it will end
In many ways, it may change us forever.
We may not go back to the way it was.
There is too much death to talk casually
about silver linings.
Death is forever.
The virus and its hardships won’t be.
But we get to choose what stays with us.
And what will stay with me
is Love.
I have so much faith in humanity
Tiffany Levy Greene
Longmeadow
