They say…
April
29
They say the lockdown will end soon
the war against the virus will be won
the economy will rocket to the moon
and we'll be back to all the normal fun
They say we need to quickly forget
all we have endured suffered and lost
to be out again and buy with no regret
spend and spend with no regard for cost
They say there is nothing to learn
from an unseen little bug not even alive
while it waits in the dark for another turn
and when it comes again, we will not thrive
We. Will. Not. Thrive.
Last night I had this dream. I witnessed a car crash and went to help. A bystander told me to get the driver, who was unconscious, out of the car. I did that and carried the person to the nearby hospital. But there was no clear entry or obvious place to go. I carried the person to various corridors looking for help and finally found a nurse who offered to help. When she saw the person I was carried, she gasped and said that this was her brother. Then I woke up. Besides the personal content, this dream has a clear larger meaning that is reflected in Russ Lockhart’s poem, “They Say.” As we race to the new normal which appears awfully like the old normal, we will continue to forget and misplace our people, our families, our ‘brothers.’ What is ironic about Covid-19 is that it materialized and swept the world largely due to the reality that, as never before, all people on earth are linked together by instant communications and travel and yet, tragically, it is separating us from ourselves.