And They Fold Their Hands In Prayer(Covid19) Poem by Elizabeth Padillo Olesen

And they fold their hands in prayer
surrendering their mind and heart
To a higher and greater Being than us,
we call God, who reveals himself in Jesus,
Who teaches us to pray, to unite our inner being
To the greater source of power and love.

And they fold their hands during Corona time
When hundreds, thousands of men, and women
die each day in Killing fields: in hospitals, under ventilators
in set up tents or camps, at home, on streets and in prisons.
And they die like flies, after moments of hard breathing
And they lose their lives, separated from their loved ones-
Many of whom cannot give them a decent burial
With the presence of friends and loved ones.

Doctors and nurses, janitors serve at the forefront
with their facemasks or face shields to serve the infected
Even with limited equipment for self-protection,
They continue to serve the corona patients night and day,
bearing the constant fear if they also would be virus bearers,
a threat to the health of their own loved ones and family
and yes, some of them die and sadly enough
some of them end up in the list of Corona deaths.

When will this crisis end? Nobody knows.
When will the borders be opened? Yes, when will shops
schools, and theaters, libraries, restaurants, and salons,
Churches, schools, sport centers and museums open too?
As the authorities spend time to talk and find out the best
way to survive, the people fold their hands in prayers
That they too might be saved from the virus
And that their own business be allowed to operate.

Folding hands will not take time much time
Something the sick and the front liners, friends
and families of the deceased can simply do.
To know that somebody is praying for you
Is a great and beautiful assurance under
the surge of Corona, striking once, twice or thrice.
______

Covid 19, March 13,2020