Restless How Can I Do The Ordinary Things I Always Do? Poem by Shalom Freedman

How can I do the ordinary things I always do
When the world is in such crisis
When so many sick and more unemployed
When I too cannot do much of what I ordinarily do
The world is in crisis
And I have nothing to do to help
Except these small lines
Which will probably help no one but myself
I am not a doctor a nurse or any kind of medical person
I do not distribute or sell food or put food out on supermarket shelves
I am not a policeman or fireman or farmer or fisherman
I am too old to be allowed to volunteer for anything
I am restless and wonder how I can sit here and write
When I should be doing something to help
Instead I write as ordinarily write
The same kind of small poems
That are probably not even poems anymore