COVID 19
I cannot write a poem about what is going on:
The situation’s different for each and every one.
For some, their day is long and filled with fear and death,
nursing precious people as they gasp out their last breath;
For others, their solitude is cause for great alarm,
for mental health anxieties, which lead to greater harm.
Yet more try hard to occupy each long and lonely day,
without the loved ones missed so much, and close their eyes to pray
that this beast called Covid will disappear fast,
and death and fear and suffering will soon be in the past.
Yet, still, I hope that lessons learned will be remembered too,
and that the simpler gifts of life that are given to me and you
will be treasured greatly by us all in months and years to come;
That we will not forget the brave frontliners who succumbed.
Has this been Mother Nature’s way of warning us?
Beware!
Slow down, the planet’s dying you really must take care.
We’re custodians of such beauty, yet we take it all for granted:
seek material things and share price graphs with angles upward slanted.
Yet valued beyond all these things of money and of wealth,
is a smile of human love, held hands and robust health.
And midst the heartache, treasure the tranquillity and peace:
Hear the symphony of birdsong and hope that it won’t cease
to bring us joy and pleasure as, normality restored,
we return to work routine and our daily household chores.
There’s much to learn from this time beside the awful sadness:
Let’s look anew at our dear world and, instead, treasure it with gladness!
Claire Hughes 24 April 2020