What does the future hold for us? Here it is nearing the end of May, and I want to share two poems I wrote at the beginning of April, more than a month ago. Not a lot has changed. The death count continues to increase daily with it nearing 100,000 in the United States.
In the midst of this pandemic, people’s reactions shock me! One person posted on my Facebook page that this virus isn’t dangerous. Tell that to the families mourning 99,031 deaths. Tell that to the world whose losses stand today at 345,554 at 2:00 pm this sunny Sunday afternoon. I shudder at this callous response to this tragedy—it is dangerous and heartbreaking! Today, I choose empathy and compassion for the losses, for the pain, for the struggle, and I continue to wonder about our collective future.
In my circle of family and friends, I know someone who was diagnosed with Covid 19 ten weeks ago and is still experiencing symptoms. So some say it’s just like the flu? I’ve never had a flu that lasted that long.
My first poem contemplated the new post-coronavirus future.
What Do We Face?
April 1, 2020
The future always felt
Predictable!
Not now!
Not post-coronavirus pandemic,
Not after the deaths
The insanity
The world in turmoil!
What’s coming?
Social distancing
‘til April 30
More cases
More deaths!
100,000’s dead?
1,000,000’s sick?
The uncertainty
No one knows
For sure
But why?
Our tech age believed
We could control
Order
Orchestrate the world!
But no!
Here we stand frozen
Paralyzed
Isolated
2020—
with all its advances
can’t contain
this small
tiny
enemy
It controls us!
The USA
Ill-prepared
So sad,
But so true!
Trump, a part of the problem
Yes,
But China lied!
Would he have acted differently
If he knew the truth?
Not 81,000 deaths in China
But possibly forty times that amount!
3,240,000
Oh, my God!
We will never know.
Where are we headed?
Done and recovered
At the end of April?
May?
September?
I haven’t even a thought
About our financial losses
Not in the wake of the deaths
The sickness and trauma
The despair!
We’re all in the same boat
Headed somewhere,
Destination unknown
God, help us!
My second poem did a reality check. Reality—different to different people? I’ve struggled with reality my whole life, wanting to live in a LaLa Land of my own making, but adulthood forced me out of that imaginary land into the territory of the REAL The coronavirus catapulted me farther—into a stark face-to-face encounter with reality.
Reality Check
April 2, 2020
The sun keeps shining
The world spins
Night follows day.
On the surface
Normal is constant.
Yet the massive choirs
Of heartbroken cries resound
Across the plains
Down through the valleys
Atop the mountains
Through the deserts
Human kind is under attack
A virus war zone!
People die
The number mounts!
Doesn’t matter his color
Her Ethnicity
His Religion
No immunity!
The coronavirus kills
Has no prejudices
Is not judicious in its target
The massive grief grows
The weight of the pain stresses
This world to its limit
A mother
A father
A Daughter
Die alone
Not a hand to hold
No last kiss and hug!
And it’s not just the virus’ victims
But anyone unlucky enough
To die now
Like my dear friend, Jan Steel
Karen, Joan, and Julian stood vigilant
Outside Jan’s door
No kiss
No touch
No hug
Only death!
Hearts break in unison
Too many to count—
Exponential pain multiplied
By this devastation!
Yet the sun rises
Days melt into weeks
Pain from this horror lingers
Forever
An acrid taste in my mouth
And
Heart!
You may wonder why I keep posting my poems. I struggled so through this pandemic and recorded it. I wonder if you relate to my cares and concerns. Let me know.
~DO YOU WANT AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF THE FLIPPO BIOGRAPHY? It’s available NOW! I am experiencing a delay from the publishers—sorry about that! Go to my website and pay for it there: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~ALL FOUR E-BOOK FORMATS OF FLIPPO’S BIOGRAPHY AVAILABLE NOW.
~ RELEASE PARTY of Flippo’s biography streamed on Facebook Live — TBA! Be ready! Door Prizes, the inside story, Flippo song bytes & interview clips and more!
~Visit my web site for all the information you need about me and my books: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Whitey & Gladys Puerling, playful friends of Flippo’s, created a Fan Club. I thought it would be fun to recreate this group. Would you like to join the Marshall Flippo Fan Club Facebook page? Read interesting posts about Flippo’s life. https://www.facebook.com/groups/328325644382769/
