A Covid Consciousness

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

Someone was shouting in the supermarket the other day, “They can’t cancel Christmas, they just can’t!” I suspect they may have been mentally ill, but I heard several people muttering along the lines of, “No, they damn well can’t!” 

No one can cancel Christmas, of course. For Christians, it is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ; most will be content to celebrate in their hearts although the company of loved-ones and friends will be sorely missed given that any celebration takes on a whole new dimension when shared, physically, with others. 

For non-Christians, it is a holiday season, a time for celebrating joie de vivre. This year, though, will be very different for many f us in the sense that we are not prepared to chance putting others at risk all the while the Covid-19 coronavirus remains prevalent. For us, celebrations will be muted this year, although I, for one, will not only be raising a glass to absent friends, but also to those key workers - especially hospital staff - who have striven tirelessly to keep us safe and maintain essential services throughout the pandemic; last, but not least, I shall drink a toast to those scientists around the world who have developed vaccines that promise light at the end of the long dark tunnel that has been the year 2020.

We are not out of the woods, yet, of course, as economic recovery may well take years; many have los their jobs and some businesses will have seen their doors close forever. Covid-19 has taken its toll on all of us, one way or another, but humanity, no stranger either to crisis or tragedy, is renowned for its resilience when so confronted.

The world will not emerge from Covid-19 unscathed, but emerge it will, nature and human nature all the stronger and wiser for it.

 A COVID CONSCIOUSNESS

World, left reeling
from the stresses of a coronavirus
bringing pain and death
without either thought or favour
nor respect for any Faith 

World, struggling
to keep its economies in fair shape,
its population left in fear
of an invisible enemy, possibly
lurking any street corner 

World, on its knees,
no words of prayer springing to mind
besides, love, hope, peace,
in so much as our trust in these
may yet sustain, save us 

World, so indebted
to key workers, whoever and wherever,
whom we are seeing
risk life and limb to save us, feed us,
fears notwithstanding

World, celebrating 
a potential end in sight, various vaccines
to save us from the worst
of Covid-19, albeit anyone’s guess
as to what happens next 

World, sure to survive,
given nature and human nature’s capacity
for recovery, rising above
all manner of crises, including tragedy,
in the name of love

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2020