Ode To A Pandemic

We are found in a faulty and fractured time
rather than touch we prefer to mime
We fill up our homes, as though for a war
preparedness now for all the unsure
For all of the worries and all of the fears
bending us backward and stealing our years
Precautions, they urge us, for us to be stocked
to be dormant indoors, all sealed and locked
The warnings move forward as much as the jokes
scrolling past memes, even though it's no hoax
But it's better to laugh and before long to hope
we'll recall those two weeks when the stores had no soap
Chronicling all with a nod and a sigh
mourning with those for whom loved ones did die
Facing it all, just as real as the day
choosing to hope, and in hope we will say
We're better than fights in a grocery store aisle
better than terror which rises like bile
Be bringers of comfort, be banners of peace
show strength in compassion when all seems to cease
Be cautious but kind, be careful yet sure
there's good in this world to even the score
For to struggle is human; we count up the cost
of all the confusion and all we have lost
While still pressing forward, yes onward we rise
if needed we weep, then drying our eyes
May we sing for tomorrow and clap for today
disperse all the shadows, till nearly away
Bullying frights with our untethered dreams
shining to outdo the summer sun's beams
So if you have extra, pay forward and on
balancing brave with the surety of dawn
Thus from the vantage of subsequent days
in history's record, once clear of the haze
May it be noted how generosity won
more giving than taking, when all's said and done
More love than fear-mongering, shared through the screens
more open-palm goodness than hoarding one's means
For tomorrow and tomorrow all hinge on today;
Let this be our anthem, our hope and stay.