Shadows of four men social distancing

PEOPLE ARE SCARY: Poetry by Trude Witham

Stay away
Keep your distance
Everyone is suspect
Even if I know you

Stay away
Lest you cough on me
Sneeze on me
Breathe on me

Paranoid and fearful
I wipe surfaces
Doorknobs, handles
Everything you touched

My sleep is fitful,
Dreams disturbing
My heart skips beats
And temples ache

I check headlines
Read grim statistics
I don’t want to know
But can’t look away

Maybe online Yoga
Or guided meditation
Would help
To soothe my nerves

I’m desperate
To stay calm
In this unprecedented time
This lonely time

This morning
I thought,
“People are scary”
But are they?

I can keep a safe distance
And catch their eye
And smile
Or say hello

I can spread love
And make a difference
To someone afraid
Or alone

I can still talk
On the phone
By email
Or social media

I can send a letter
Maybe a card
Flowers, perhaps
Or candy

I can tell them they matter
That they always did
Even if I’ve been absent
From their lives

Even if they think I don’t care
Even if I think they don’t care
I can reconnect
And speak my truth

What if I don’t make it?
What if they don’t make it?
And I haven’t told them lately
That I love them?

I have a choice
You have a choice
To be the love
To be the light

If people don’t respond
If they’re distant
If they’ve forgotten you
Reach out anyway

The choice is yours
To change the outcome
Yes, the virus exists
But it doesn’t have to win

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image: Pixabay

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