Now You Know

 

Now you know

the loneliness and

despair of

restriction

and being alone.

Now you know

not being able to go

where you need or

wish to go.

Now you know

the void between

you and family,

not being close to

friends and loved

ones with whom

you want to be.

Now you know

not being with

the many

engaged as

community in

social activity.

Now you know

the absence of

touch and feel,

sans the emotional

warmth and interaction

with others.

Now you know

the every day

confinement

of body, mind

and spirit,

and the trauma

this banishment

has revealed.

Now you know

a loss of

close contact

and the precious

gift of human

camaraderie.

Now you know

what the elderly,

the rejected,

the imprisoned,

the frail and

enfeebled feel—

this dreaded

social distancing

the Coronavirus

has revealed.

Oh yes,

now you know,

and desperately

wish it wasn’t so.

Now you know

the loss of life

and suffering,

the direction

from which

the bitter

and foreboding

North Wind blows.

           -30-

Chris Hanch 3-10-2021