Sunday, June 12, 2022

social gears have rusted

 

pandemic reverberations


the pandemic pulled any away 

from knowing who they were for a time,

as fear shook foundations, disrupted routine, 

denied the familiarity of people and action,

forcing us to retreat into the home to be safe,

often validation for who we are can come from others,

yet person-to-person morphed into person-to-screen,

and the screen can be more snake in the Garden than friend,

as the pandemic eases, it’s as if all must begin from scratch again,

we are drawn to group with those with whom we are most comfortable

so that “us” is not “them,” society increasingly compartmentalized,

and it’s often all one can do to be just one,

many felt they lost themselves during the pandemic,

a bone-deep tiredness fills folks these days,

lists of what can be done shorten,

exhaustion dominates,


so many are like the Tin Man with our social gears rusting, 

and the Oz of our dreams gets ever more distant.



by Henry H. Walker
June  5, ‘22

No comments: