What was all that coming and going
that kept us so busy every day
but just a distraction and escape
from what we should have been doing.
Once upon a time it was food that busied us –
the growing or finding, the preparation, the storage.
Then we became so civilized, so advanced,
so technological that it no longer occupied our day.
Once upon a time we worried about shelter
and warmth, fire and light, medicine, water.
Now the virus holds us at gunpoint, a choke-hold
forcing us into lockdown, solitary confinement.
And when we look at what our day ought to be
we are at a loss, for there is nothing except
the quest for existence, the panic to keep breathing
as even the play-acting we do to be loved
or liked or respected is socially distanced.
It no longer matters if we bathe or brush
or shave or if we even have clothes to wear.
But of course I do all that . . . to be ready . . .
because the absolute truth exists in my soul,
the meaning of life is there in the crevices
just waiting for me to find it.
Focus Unlimited 