Lockdown

Author Unknown - We do not own the rights to this written work

Lockdown

Yes there is fear

Yes there is isolation

Yes there is sickness

Yes there is even death

But

They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise

You can hear the birds sing again.

They say that after just a few weeks of quiet

The sky is no longer thick with fumes

But blue and grey and clear.

They say that in the streets of Assisi

People are singing to each other

across the empty squares,

keeping their windows open

so that those who are alone

may hear the sounds of family around them.

They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland

is offering free meals and delivery to the homebound.

Today a young woman I know

is busy spreading fliers with her number

through the neighborhood

so that the elders may have someone to call on.

Today churches, synagogues, mosques and temples

are preparing to welcome

and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary.

All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting

All over the world people are looking at their neighbors in a new way

All over the world people are waking up to a new reality

To how big we really are

To how little control we really have

To what really matters

To love.

So we pray and we remember that

Yes there is fear

But there does not have to be hate.

Yes there is isolation

But there does not have to be loneliness.

Yes there is panic buying

But there does not have to be meanness.

Yes there is sickness

But there doesn't have to be disease of the soul.

Yes there is even death

But there can always be a rebirth of love.

Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.

Today, breathe.

Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic

The birds are singing again

The sky is clearing

Spring is coming

And we are always encompassed by Love.

Open the windows of your soul

And though you may not be able

to touch across the empty square,

Sing.