https://padlet.com/waterlily25442/jacx4wfbdbup4uwv Made with ♥ en-us 2021-07-11 00:35:12 UTC 2025-04-24 10:50:49 UTC hello@padlet.com waterlily25442 https://padlet.com/waterlily25442/jacx4wfbdbup4uwv/wish/1644287536
In the time of this terrible pandemic

One brought to us by a virus with a hateful "crown"

I have wept for the sick and the dying, for those separated by plastic and protocol,for those who missed life's milestones, be it a graduation walk or a cheek to cheek dance at a senior homecoming, or holding the hand of a loved one slipping away.

But now the ones I weep for the most are the children of the pandemic. The ones born after boarders closed, flights stilled, and we, citizens of the world, were silenced. Our roads empty, our parks barren, our sidewalks stilled in a chill born in the marrow. 

I weep for the pandemic children because "we" will forever be a "we" and "they" will forever be a "them" and nothing will ever bridge this gap that runs as cold and deep a raging  mountain river.

I call the this The Great Demarcation.

Those born before the pandemic will have some unity of memory, a common frame of reference, a shared experience.

Those born during the pandemic will never share these moments, these brief recollections, these experiences of the time before.

Whether the years after the pandemic will prove better or worse, or a mixture of both, the children of the pandemic will know only one thing:  
That "this" is how the world is, and to them, this will feel like it has been forever.

We will all stand on opposite sides of the raging river, The Great Demarcation, and have no idea what each other feels or why one group will forever endure the pain of memory while the other group runs free and unburdened in a place where memory does not burn or bury us under a thousand "what ifs" and "I remember when."

We can only go forth with love, forgiveness, and undiluted truth for we must do everything possible to ensure that there will never again be a "a once in a century pandemic." 

It is the very least we can do for one another in the long road of recovery that stretches far before us into and beyond the brightest horizon.

\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*

This poem is dedicated to my grandnephew Westley, a true child of the pandemic. I'm sorry for the terrible mess of a dying world that we, your forebears, are leaving you. 

I hope one day you will find it in your heart to forgive us for we often truly didn't know what it was we were doing.

May my name be lost to the time and tide of history. But may these words live on as part of our collective history and story as human beings.

I write this on the eve of another full lockdown in one of Asia's greatest cities of the 21st century.   
The first lockdown was pure fear. This one, nothing but tired resignation.

If you can remember nothing else dear grandnephew, remember this:

We are all together here. *Still*.

Be calm and be at peace.

And strive to be better than those of us who came before.


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