I saw a picture of a nurse today on Facebook. She looked traumatized from the day she spent in the ICU. My heart went out to her as much as the patient who died on her shift. She is at ground zero of this pandemic while I wait it out in my comfortable home. As I reflected on her expression, these words came pouring out of me. I guess you can say it is a poem. I have never written a poem before.
When we reach the other side
When we reach the other side, we will be different.
But for now, we are caught in a vortex of fear, uncertainty and grief as COVID-19 persists.
We are spinning and reeling and trying to find our footing.
For now the death toll keeps rising.
For now the nurses and doctors are trembling at the sights and sounds of the ICU.
For now the streets are empty.
For now the schools are closed.
For now the unemployed are multiplying.
For now the computer screen is how we meet.
We don’t understand what is happening to us because we have never experienced this before.
The storm is raging, we hunker down waiting for it to be over.
Waiting for the rainbow.
Waiting for the promise.
As we wait, we each know instinctively that we will never be the same again.
When the storm ends and that rainbow appears, we will be different.
We will hug cautiously, but love fiercely.
We will tip generously and smile at our waiter.
We will revere and respect our teachers and health care workers and give them raises.
We will fix our broken health care system.
We will support sustainability of the planet because we now believe it is possible for skies to be clear.
When we reach the other side, we will be different because God has signed us up and put us through the toughest boot camp to teach us how to love one another and our planet.
On the other side may only these three things remain:
1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
See you on the other side.
Thanks Diane. You’re right. We (I) will never be the same. For now, I will plant potatoes and onions, love my family and friends, and get FaceView Mask on the market. I will pray for the world ? “reboot” as you would say! Thanks for your inspiring insights!
Love how you are spending your time. I pray for your mask to get mass produced. The world needs it!!!
I Love this Diane. I hope and pray this is a poem to look at now and in the future to look back at and remember this time of our lives of uncertainty. Thanks for the reminder of the certainty of God’s love and hope we have in Him.
Thanks Diane for your encouragement. I love what you said that in this time of uncertainty we can be certain of God’s love and hope.