It’s a time of transition, the world is adjusting to a new norm. I can’t say I think it will last. People will get tired of not being around others, and tired of not being able to find what they need. And they will head out and get what they need and say heck to the consequences. People are not meant to be in isolation from each other, even the strongly introverted have people they want and need to connect with.
I’ve watched the news reels and seen those who deny Covid-19 is dangerous, or even a virus that can be spread, that it is all a hoax. I’ve seen those infected with Covid go out of their way to infect others. Deliberate action to harm others. I’ve watched the Spring Break revellers and wondered at their foolishness.
I’ve noted the fear and the anger. A mom telling a little girl to move away from the sidewalk to the other side of a car, giving even more than the six foot minimum. The security guard needed at the local grocery store to maintain order. Signs on floors reminding people to keep their distance. People can adjust if they give themselves time, and we need to encourage them in their adjustment.
Adjustments Made – a poem
Alert! Alert!
Stay at home!
The alert came through the phone.
Startling me it seemed
out of a year of growth.
People fail to understand
The need to exercise care
Home from vacation
Yet going to the store.
Children oft in tow.
I have mixed emotions about this need.
To fill the fridge and cupboards bare
taking along the whole family.
It’s so easy to focus on just the self
To forget our larger community.
But the alert sounds
This is not just about you!
Protect families, see to the weak
How will you help
Preserve the economy?
Fear rises, avoidance a norm
And with it a counter point.
Remember kindness, to think of others
To keep yourself and others safe
Sidewalk signs appear
And so we see
Adjustments made
People slowly learning
To be a community.
Think beyond themselves.
The five minute friday word for the week is Adjust. I hope you’ll take the time to join in with us. It’s a fun writing activity.
Great thoughts here, and a bonza poem!
That haunting last stanza inspired a sonnet…I hope you don’t mind if I share it here?
We have now to learn to think far past
ourselves, and all that which we need;
but this peril will not last,
and after, will we heed
the knowing gained at such cost,
the calling for community,
or will it be summarily lost,
and defeat pulled back from victory?
For in these times that seem so fell
there is blessing, there is grace
when we find that we can tell
God’s presence in each passing face.
I pray that our shared recollection
will give our lives a new direction.
Andrew… and so my heart smiles. 🙂 Thank you!
great poem!
thank you. 🙂
Warnings and adjustments do call for a perspective that is far from self and that is terribly hard for human nature. I connect with this one well.
it is so hard to learn, even though I do often think of others, but sometimes you just don’t know what you might be missing. Over time you learn and can then be a useful part of the community you live in.
Loved your writing and thoughts. “People are learning to be a community, to think beyond themselves.” Beautiful ending. Greetings from your FMF friend 🙂
oh, thank you Mabel. 🙂