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2020 Pandemic Journey Day 42


May 2, 2020

Today’s idea- I love to glean from our hive mind the insights that bring sparkle to our conversations.  Here is a fresh parable in lyrical verse that I’ve captured.  A wonderful extension of the Great Pause!

The Great Realization
It was a world of waste and wonder, of poverty and plenty
Back before we understood why hindsight’s 2020.
You see, the people came up with companies to trade across all lands
But they swelled so much bigger than we ever could have planned.
We’d always had our wants but now it got so quick
you could have anything you dreamed of in a day and with a click.
We noticed families stopped talking, that’s not to say they never spoke,
But the meaning must have melted and the work life balance broke.
And the children’s eyes grew squarer and every toddler had a phone.
They filtered out the imperfections but amidst the noise they felt alone.
And everyday the skies grew thicker till you couldn’t see the stars.
So we flew in planes to find them while down below we filled our cars.
We’d drive around all day in circles, we’d forgotten how to run,
We swapped the grass for tarmacs, shrunk the parks till there were none.
We filled the sea with plastic because our waste was never capped.
Until each day when you went fishing you pulled them out already wrapped.
And while we drank and smoked and gambled, our leaders taught us why
Its best to not upset the lobbies, more convenient to die.
But then in 2020, a new virus came our way
The governments reacted and told us all to hide away.
And while we all were hidden amidst the fear and all the while,
People dusted off their instincts, they remembered how to smile.
They started clapping to say thank you and calling up their mums.
And while the car keys gathered dust they would look forward to their runs.
And with the sky less full of voyagers the earth began to breathe.
And the beaches bore new wildlife that scuttled to the seas.
Some people started dancing, some were singing, some were baking.
We’d grown so used to bad news, but some good news was in the making.
And so when we found the cure and were allowed to go outside.
We all preferred the one we’d found to the one we’d left behind.
Old habits became extinct and they made way for the new.
And every simple act of kindness was now given its due.
But why did it take a virus to bring the people back together?
Sometimes you must get sick before you start feeling better.
                                                --- tomfoolery

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