POETRY

The Year the World Changed Forever

Reflections on a COVID Sunday morning

Picture by the author (Zion National Park)

(I started writing this poem on Easter Sunday, 2020, while reflecting on the difficulties and challenges we all faced that year when COVID shut down much of the world. In the midst of that discouraging time, I wanted to focus on the kindness and goodness that was evident all around.)

I’ve seen a different world today; Easter customs upside down. No yellow dresses fill the pews; No services with sunrise views. The parking lots abandoned, bare; The churches filled with silent air. But this forever? No, I pray; For life’s a verb more than a noun.

Had one predicted such a plight, what would the crystal ball reveal? Predictions of a panicked world? Hysteria and fear unfurled? The loss of all we hold so dear? Great disregard for others’ tears? Perhaps a harsh, self-centered sight; Earth’s dive into a hell so real?

But no, a different tale is told; The prophet had the story wrong. Yes, pain and tears engulf the air; But something supersedes the cares. A new compassion’s now in play, emerging through the disarray. A brave resilience, strong and bold, arising as the world’s new song.

A golden sun breaks through the night, dissolving our uncertainty. The hope once veiled behind the cloud, has burst forth from its darkened shroud. Kindness and empathy have surged. From blind despair, vision emerged, To see a day of new insight; A world where love flows rich and free.

I’ve started a new adventure on Tik Tok, posting videos of my cat and me reading my poems (I do the reading, she does the sitting). Feel free to check out my Tik Tok profile: “Poems with my Cat.”