Dispatches from Quarantine:
Young People on Covid-19

We are from the shouts as they bounce and echo around us
From the shards of ice impossible to crack by themselves
We are from the swish and thud of cards shuffled, and pieces moved
From the constant struggle to do better, to help others
We are from the long distance, the ceaseless change
From a place no one can name
We are from the shadows that play tricks on our minds
They run with us, through us
Swallow us, become us

We come from a world of laughter and love
From a world of sorrow and death
We come from a world of problems stacked ten feet tall
From a world of wondering what to do next
We come from water tumbling gently down the ravine
From bees traveling from flower to flower
We come from clouds floating like paintings in the sky

We are the empty cave and bated breath
We are the occasional cloud that passes by
We are the birds chirping in the morning
We are the land brittle and dry
We are the darkness where we stumble, catch ourselves, and fall
We are gone, fighting, and then we disappear
We are the world, we are nothing

We fight through the rushing river and impassable mountains
We fight through the endless circle
We fight the falls and rise up once more
We fight as if every battle is our last
Cause it just might be

We find our way to the outstretched hand
We find each other
We find the slam of another closed door
We find the calls of our friends fading away

We stand together through pain and strife
We stand together brave and true
We stand together like leaves on a tree
We stand together finally in perfect harmony
We stand together until our darkness catches up

And in that brief moment the darkness swallows us again
Boom!
Consumes us, knows us
Clatter!
We fight with hope, we lose

And in that loss rises a star
One brighter than the biggest sun
One more content that the calmest ocean breeze

Amazing isn’t it? How the brisk wind becomes a tornado?
How a gentle rain becomes a thunderstorm?
How the calm ocean becomes a tsunami?

All it takes is a second, before it catches up to us,
A second, before it swallows us,
A second, before we run and fight all in, no regrets,
A second, before we are the dark night air,
A second, before the light disappears, and all that’s left to guide us is the bright light of the stars and the hope that one day it will be morning again.