I Bite My Tongue

I will do what I can to keep my world
From them. This isn't the time for them
To hear of lives which have no meaning,
Lives which are, in truth, not even lives,
Of time as grinding wheel, unending,
Crushing everything, including useless,
Azure planets. They're afraid. Death
Roams the land, and all the people hiding
Worry that he will not go away, and all
They've done will cease to matter.
Businesses and jobs will wilt, and schools
And restaurants and stadiums and even
Parks won't ever be the way they used to be.
A hug will be a pistol pointed at the hugger's
Head, and nothing will seem worth discussing
Except death tolls, washing hands. I'll tell
Them that these won't be true forever. There
Will be a time, within in a year, perhaps, or
Longer, when their fears will be assuaged,
And Death, though still around, will shrivel
Back to as he always was: a distant threat
For most of them, and crowds again will
Safely gather. Friends and lovers will embrace
In confidence, and what they knew as life
Before will have returned (and, once it has,
I'll say again it doesn't mean a thing).



Poetry by Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 21 times
Written on 2020-05-17 at 20:44

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