Together Apart

Together Apart

In and out of the same four rooms

Blossoms outside the window

A view rarely noticed until

It becomes the new office

Faces in a grid staring back at me

My connection to the outside

Where the heart still beats

The world turns round

And Mother Nature soothes

With swaying trees against the sunrise

And bird choruses heralding springtime

Runners break free of their confines

Soaring down paths and avenues

Silhouettes of the restless moving up and down steps

In the empty stadium of a school devoid of life

Where bells have gone silent and hallways empty

Bearing no jubilant banners of prom or graduation

Outside the heart still beats

The world turns round

And Mother Nature soothes

With her fresh, fragrant breezes

And rainbow-filled skies after the rain

Shoppers hurry by with averted glances

Fearful eyes peering above meager masks

The store darkened by underlying tension

And the unspoken how long? HOW LONG?

Clutching precious rations they rush out the door

Where the heart still beats

The world turns round

And Mother Nature soothes

With her technicolor blooms

Warm sun on glittering rivers

Screens feed continual streams of data

Numbers, graphs, trajectories, and photos

Probabilities, possibilities…and no certainties

As a giant question mark hovers over an unwritten future

Screens also offer distraction, compassion, connection

Faces of loved ones smiling and yearning to be near

While our hearts still beat

The world turns round

And Mother Nature soothes

With a spirit of unwavering courage

And the will to live on