Poem for the week: "A River of Woe"

A River of Woe

There’s a river of woe running

through this world, and everywhere

people, friends and neighbors, are

in agony as COVID-19 runs through

their lives. A college student in Ohio

is gripped by deep depression: “My

future, which seemed so bright a few

months ago, seems bleak and hopeless

today.” And a college junior from

Pennsylvania said: “I’ve spent days

crying alone and feeling helpless stuck

at my parents’ house.” And seniors

in nursing homes, who are hit hardest

with this pernicious virus and cannot

see their children and grandchildren,

a wrenching loneliness that tears their

hearts apart. A woman in Dallas lays

bare her soul as this river of woe runs

through her: “I’m terrified for myself

and my family and everyone in the

world. All the things I love to do, now

I’m afraid to do.” The stress of this

pandemic is draining everyone. A lady

in Oak Park, Illinois cries: “Why am

I suddenly afraid of the mail carrier

or the food delivery?” And an atheist

in Philadelphia prays daily, but he does

not know to whom he is praying. But

character is forged in the smithy of

our soul as we’re forced to see that all

of this grief is teaching us about who

we truly are; only then can we ride this

global pandemic to a new perspective

and accept that we are all in this

river of woe together.