A novel virus, a deadly mystery
we’re all reading together
doctors, politicians, economists
nurses, cooks, and clerks
cashiers, truckers, teachers
each and every one of us
learning on the fly, adjusting
trying to grasp our new reality
mutative existence exhausting
our ability to cope with it
the story changes, the mystery grows
amid our perpetual Groundhog Day
we see the shadow of death looming
it’s hard to see the sun in the dark
but it’s still there, rising every day
shining light into our lives
whether or not we choose to see it
let the light guide us through the shadows
illuminate darkness with love and unity
the belief that together we can
solve this mystery, together we can
mend broken hearts, together we can
heal the wounds, together we can
rebuild the world with the light
alive in all of us, together we can
know we’re all in this together
and one day this virus won’t be so novel
and one day this mystery will be solved
it will be a story of rebirth
together we will walk onward
into a future we found together
thanks to the light inside us all.
Scott C. Kaestner is a Los Angeles poet, writer, dad, husband, and is in need of a good moisturizer for his overwashed hands. Google ‘scott kaestner poetry’ to peruse his musings and doings.