Remember that time

The world stood still

Literally

And with immense warning?

We ignored the signs

Made up our own news and

Hoped

It was all a bad dream

Remember that time

Kids no longer feared being gunned down

Because schools became couches

And teachers morphed into laptops?

We dug in our heels

Closed the proverbial (and realistic) doors

Fought tooth and nail against

An enemy we will never see

Remember the time

A country never felt so divided

Its citizens all sharing similar trauma

While protesting how haircuts meant more than human life

Communities torn asunder

By both the threat of imminent death and

High-risk employment

Otherwise known as essential work

Remember the time

Days flowed into weeks

Which drained into months

Minds lost in a haze of fear and crafts

With a global weight on our shoulders

We spent months making memories

Our only familial connections

Had via six-inch screens

Remember the time

A nation came together

Lifted from the ashes of illness

A phoenix rising into the state of new normal, hands clasped together

Not balled into fists

The latter is only a hope though

A manifestation of sorts with shared healing being the focus

Refusing to allow the darkness to fully permeate

This light we so gingerly keep burning.

~