The Lost Eden In Corona Time Poem by Elizabeth Padillo Olesen

Green and wild Eden
Trees and fresh air
animals and freedom
fields and markets
money and income
Flowers bloom
Waters beam with life.

People on the move:
Planting, harvesting,
Selling, earning,
Studying, flying on air
Hugging, shaking hands,
Celebrating, speaking
words to others' ears.

And suddenly …
Green and wild Eden
Is lost for a while,
driven out,
changed, ruled
and manipulated
by its new dweller-
Corona- the virus-
in human lungs.

By Corona, lockdowns become laws:
Closing parks and zoos of
Eden, closing centers of commerce.
beaches; closing borders and airports,
cancelling meetings, conferences
and cultural shows…

By Corona people are
Isolated in quarantines,
in hospitals or under ventilators,
doomed to daily deaths by hundreds
or thousands, and health workers
stand among the counted dead.

By Corona, the healthy ones
give up their freedom to move,
hug and shake hands
even the freedom to
hold a funeral or to be
at the bedside of their dying loved ones.

May the Lost Eden be recovered
by common hands to work
together to protect every
Life of humans, animals and plants.
______________
April 28,2020
Elizabeth Padillo Olesen