More to sigh
and little to harbor.
Disasters shadowed,
dreams shattered,
and uncertainty dawdled.
Decades of confidence and valor
clobbered by the tiniest of germs.
We tried, we hoped, we survived;
Nothing like how we were tested before.

The wave smacked us again,
catastrophic than the prior-
unleashing mayhem;
Saturation levels depleting, gasping for air,
dying like reptiles caught in forest fire.
The country on a ventilator:
Doctors fatigued, health care crumbled
and beds filled up in a fortnight;
Waiting in line to bury our loved ones–
nightmares coming alive.

This too shall pass away- They said
Hoping is what we are left with
Put the masks on, be kind
Wait for the vaccine.
For, there must be light
At the end of the tunnel
For, we must fight it all,
Nothing novel about it now!