It’s been a year since the Covid-19 pandemic began. I don’t know about you, but it’s hard for me to believe I’ve been wearing a mask, physical distancing and spending a lot of time at home alone for an entire year. One would think the year would have dragged, but for me it has raced on by, and here I am in March, 2021 already. There seems to be hope now, with two, and soon to be three, vaccines being administered. It remains to be seen if they will work or last for a significant amount of time, but people are lining up to get them, which I think is a good thing. I’m willing to give them a chance.

The other big thing that hasn’t been addressed and continues unabated in our country is racism. We couldn’t avoid looking at it anymore last year, but we need to do more than just see it; we need to find the remedy for it, too. Who is racing to find that cure? I think it’s up to all of us, not some company or government. I am reading a book right now, Me and White Supremacy, which is actually a workbook with challenging, thought-provoking questions and tough journaling prompts that I sometimes have trouble writing to. But I’m continuing to press on through, hoping to come out on the other side with understanding and a mandate to action.

2020

We didn’t see it coming,
though there was rumbling
in some sectors
that there was a possibility. . .
but not a certainty. . .
and it didn’t creep up on us, either;
it roared in like a stream roller
and squashed us.
They gave it a name:
Covid-19,
and it disabled our entire country.
The race began to find a cure,
or at least something to stop its rampage.
At the end of the year,
vaccines and hope blossomed.

George Floyd wasn’t the first,
and he certainly wasn’t the last,
black man to die last year,
but we watched it happen on TV,
horrified at the graphic video
we saw again and again.
They gave it a name, too:
murder by police,
and unrest exploded.
There was no race for a cure,
and more black men died
before the year ended.
There are no vaccines for hate,
only ordinary people like us
who must see the racism in ourselves
and cure our hearts and minds
of the inaction that plagues us.

© 2021 Dorothy A Joslyn

How has Covid-19 impacted you, and what are you doing about it? Write your heart out.

Write about the vaccines: Are you getting one? Do you think they will work? Write your fears and hopes.

Where do you stand on racism in our country? Write until you find your answer.

How can you begin your journey to end your own racism? (Yes, there is no doubt that some racism is in your DNA passed down from your ancestors.) Like me, you might want to start small and work up to bravery.