Abstract
In the winter of 2019
People said it shall pass like so many others, don't worry, don't be a bore.
We met its brothers and sisters in seasons past, a mere temporal malaise.
But even as the season changed, still the patients came in case after case.
Words of wisdom and pleas for help fell on deaf ears.
Winter did indeed dull the world's eyes and rusted its gears.
People cried in disbelief, how could something so small and insignificant be so deadly and disruptive.
Prompting scientists and doctors to race to discover the plague's next great motive.
And as the pandemic spread, so did fear, hatred, and selfishness.
Leading me to think that as we test the virus, so shall we be tested.
Treatments at hand offered little comfort beyond a tube in the mouth and isolation.
Livelihoods were destroyed, families torn apart, and the sick facing social desolation.
Where was the vaccine, the cure, the panacea for this plague?
In the works Big Pharma said, can you not wait?
As medical resource became scarce, so did friends become foes.
Decency and dignity were sacrificed on the altar of efficiency, survival, and crows.
But amid such adversity and devastation, came about the birth of hope and human decency.
As folks, neighbors, family, and friends took stock of what is important in this emergency.
This plague tore people apart as it also brought people together.
We finally realize we are all of one body and we need to care for each other.
Only through cooperation, love, human decency, and social consciousness.
Can we face this plague and all of its horrid bitterness.
So, as we march to battle, the hours be long and the battlefields varied, let us not be found wanting.
Everyone has a role to play, the vulnerable, the lonely, and the sick are in need of comforting.