and, sadly, we are defenseless.
The haughty killer is invisible.
silent, odorless, and voracious.
We, on the other hand, are helpless.
We possess no weapons to fight back.
We have no vaccines to prevent it,
no treatments to alleviate its effects.
And true to its nature, this pernicious assassin
Seeks out the ailing, the old, the infirm.
What's one to do, we ask,
Avoid contact with others,
wash your hands endlessly,
and cover your face in public, they say.
That's it? We have disturbingly little ammunition
to fight this hungry, mortal adversary.
But there's more to it than suffering and death.
This virus attacks our souls and humanity.
It takes our jobs,
it takes food from our tables,
it places our kid's education on hold,
it empties our arenas and churches
our restaurants, movie theaters,
and neighborhood basketball courts.
Without these, we become less human.
And if that were not enough,
politicians are using it to divide our country.
A president encourages people to violate
his own government's guidelines.
Elected officials suggest
we sacrifice the elderly
for the sake of the economy.
Some, when learning it was killing
people of color at a much higher rate,
suggested it might not be such a bad thing.
In the past, when the country faced a threat,
we came together, putting aside our differences.
Now, instead of fighting together against a common enemy,
we are being encouraged to fight each other.
Citizens are told wearing a mask is
a political statement,
an infringement on their rights,
instead of a mask being a weapon
to fight our common enemy.
Thus, the perfect storm!
But we are up to the task.
We are better than the dividers
We will not descend into chaos.
We will conquer this villain
We will protect the common good.
We will take care of each other.
In the end, we will prevail.
