1. A DAY OF LOVE and 2. COVID WW lll February 2021

1. A DAY OF LOVE
What a day!

We planned it all
Drive into DC
park for free on Sundays at the mall.
We have 3 hours,
we park strategically.

We make our way to the Hirschhorn sculpture garden
We’re not the only ones.
On newly planned walking guides, we follow signs
leading us around the sculptures.
Everyone wears masks, keeping socially distant

We felt safe
Beautiful weather, beautiful art, beautiful garden
We walked across the Mall to the sounds of music on the greens
and made our way to the other sculpture garden at the National Gallery.
There too, everyone wears masks, keeping socially distant
We felt safe

Finding our way to the fountains, we sat in a shaded spot.
People resting and taking in the beautiful display of world famous art and
flowers,
sharing a garden with masked friends.
We felt safe
We were happy

We sat down by the Pavilion fountains for lunch.
Pulling off backpacks, we enjoyed sandwiches and hot coffee
while speaking with a security guard about the gallery’s collection
An unexpected treat,
human contact.
We felt safe
We were happy

We walked back through the garden
Saying goodby to Rodin, Chagall, Moore
and other friends,
promising to return with the changing leaves.
We were really happy.

2. COVID WW lll February 2021
This is how it looks,
not with bombs, airplanes or tanks,
it’s quiet.

This is how it feels,
isolating, alone, and virtual,
it’s quiet.

Wars for every generation.
The Battle of the Bulge, Vietnam,
my father, brother, husband and friends.
We gave so many times
wasn’t that enough?

Then Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan.
They were bloody and explosive.
Generations were lost.

What would the next Big One look like?
With bombs dropping, homes collapsing, streets torn up?
Would planes soar above, soldiers spill out into streets
and blood flow like rivers?

Well, It’s here NOW and it’s different.
It’s quiet.
It takes your breath away.
Death comes in numbers
over the TV, in daily stats
on the Dashboard.

It’s here, Viral warfare,
and the enemy is Covid.
The planet’s ablaze, yet there is no fire
no bombs, no tanks
but a virus, mutating every day, from country to country.

We don’t run seeking protection in shelters
as bombs scream overhead.
We Shelter In.
Our homes and cars are satellites of safety.
No swords, bullets, or bombs.
No hiding from a nuclear Holocaust.
This war is a virus.

Cyber, chemical, viral.
No Loud destruction of warfare
to humans and countrysides.
This one is not like them,
this one is quiet

You can’t see it, or hear it, or smell it
this one you breathe it.
This one is the cruelest of all.

We can’t touch each other
We can’t sit with a friend,
to hug or kiss.
We create bubbles for some,
isolating from the rest.
Separation.

Life as we knew is on hold.
No traveling, theaters, restaurants.
No gathering in crowds of strangers
listening to music or watching a play.
No sitting at bars, meeting folks for a drink
riding the metro to DC.

Amazingly, some think it’s a hoax.
This disaster isn’t really happening.
They assemble as before
muderously spreading it.

I remember the Vietnam lottery,
huddling together as numbers rolled over the radio
listening to the Stones singing
“You can’t always get what you want....”

Group 1a, 1b, 1c, 2, the new rollout
When will my turn come?
What’s my status?
How long is this wait?
The Big One, World War lll
It’s the Virus, Carona.
It’s the disease, Covid.
It’s everywhere,
it’s so quiet.

The planet’s gasping for breath
and no one is exempt.
Some are safer than others,
but it all comes home.

What irony-the only way out is together.
Together we separate,
together we mask,
together we vaccinate.
It’s not over till it’s over,
Together