For all those who think they’re unaffected by a virus.
Insulated in a bubble of wealth without reason.
Dark hair roots show when they remove their red hats.
We can all see who you really are now.
Thinking the economy is more important than a soul.
Confused by authority, leadership, contradictions.
Crying over puppy videos while calling the police on black and brown people.
Who are you to deny that we are all connected?
Medical professionals who cry in the hallways like hysterical Cassandra and her unheard prophecies.
Giving birth alone, hearing ecstatic or dire medical news alone, attending medical appointments and procedures alone.
Being too scared to go to the ER with heart attack or stroke symptoms or an injury.
Immunocompromised or disabled and invisible.
The individuals who die alone in silence, forgotten, mere statistics.
Who is essential?
The lack of paper products and cleaning supplies.
Crying over restaurant closures and having to make food for oneself.
The leavening disappeared from store shelves and now swamps the news.
Scarcity doesn’t affect everyone equally.
What is necessary?
The celebrations passed over.
Coming together with online streaming.
Dates that were looked forward to, milestones that meant so much.
The teens crying over missed prom, sports, graduation, college orientation.
The parents whose hopes are locked away in their bedrooms playing video games.
The kids watching their friends from windows, online, social media.
Abusers locked away with their victims.
Who are the helpers?
The privileged ones who fight for their right to party while starving beggars sit at the grocery store door palms up.
They had a secure job a month ago. They were living the American dream with all their expensive toys and debt, keeping up with the Joneses.
Sheep led to the slaughter with jeers and cheers.
Maskless protesters demand rights, but not for all.
We need more than a hug and a Snickers bar.
Who is expendable?
Even those who long to just go back to normal know in the corner of their minds that it wasn’t a good normal.
Desire to create a better simpler normal, including all, loving all, welcoming all, protecting all.
Let us pray.
Let us act.
Let us love.
Let us change.
Let us heal.
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