i. Denial
It crept in on silent feet.
First roar shook our terra to the core, hurled
steadiness out the door.
Is this a monster,
or a bug we’ll swat
away by summer?
ii. Ravage
A beast insatiable gobbles
each nugget of normality
and we are humbled.
iii. Negotiation
Bruised and bargaining,
we strain to stitch
our safety back together
with strategy.
But misfortune has set up a stall in the market
peddling destruction and death.
Like a mighty Kali, who huffs and puffs,
blowing to bits our straw houses
of false security.
iv. Respite
Wheels cloistered in garages;
airplane wings clipped.
Buses, trains, ships all tethered now.
A deafening stillness,
unheard for centuries.
Depression unfolds
a warm blanket to tuck us in.
Deep Rest.
v. Reckoning
Twisting, like pretzels,
we shape-shift
our old bodies
into new lives.
Nowhere to go, nothing to do.
Covid-time trickles through the hourglass.
vi. Stirring
Silence seeps, stirs seeing.
An ancient suppression loses grip
on our throats; sticky fingers release.
vi. Renewal
Our bellies begin to creak and crack
with growing pains.
Brittle bones meld; new sinews knit.
Each one of us, as butterfly mothers,
lifting the wings of our new world.
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