Who were we when it began?
Life was normal, so we thought…
We looked at the morning news,
We packed our lunches as usual,
We took our kids to school,
Went to restaurants,
Visited our friends…
A lifetime ago we sang together.
Then the doors closed on us.
We shed a tear, we prayed.
We watched as people were dying
But it wasn’t us,
Not yet,
Too slowly we learned to fear…
We became germaphobes.
Hoarding toilet paper and disinfectant wipes,
Scared to even touch or breathe.
Months passed and we grew lazy.
Even as more people became infected
We were determined to go back,
To return to what we knew,
To become normal.
And we did become normalized again.
Not the old,
A new normal.
We watched as death tolls rose,
Becoming increasingly blasé,
Wanting our “freedom”.
Soon, dying wasn’t scaring us anymore.
People became numbers,
Numbers beyond belief.
Thousands,
Tens of thousands,
Still more…
One hundred thousand,
Three hundred thousand,
And today we reached a milestone.
A horrible, saddening,
One Half Million…
A number hard to even comprehend,
A number which no longer shocks.
A number which should be unfathomable,
A number of human lives lost.
Today, we must reclaim our hearts
Today, we must reclaim our souls
Today, we must be outraged again
And we must shed a tear.
One for each who has departed,
And say our prayers for them.
