The Long Night

 The Long Night

However long the night, the dawn will break.

                                                         -An African proverb

The Earth in the north tilts away from the warmth, and towards the dark of winter.

We, the people in the dark, are now set apart by the virulence of the virus.

Weary, somber, as brooding as the night, infected or not, we’re apart.

Worse, thousands and thousands breathe by machine, their sad night so often eternal.

When normally we’d fly to be by their side, quarantined, we’re thwarted..

What to do from this deep abyss to purge the pall of pandemic? 

Right! We fly, we fly, we fly to the light, and look to ourselves to change it.

We look to our heart, our broad-winged heart, to rise above the long night.

For there resides the Spirit, the courage, there shines the holy light!