Poem During the Plague: Poem 45

Tom Miller is a Somerville Bagel Bard,  a retired auto executive,  and a much-published poet. Recently he got his master's degree in history from Salem St. University.


COVID-19

I was three when the war ended.

I didn’t understand it

But the world lightened.

I could feel it.

I knew it.

Uncle Frank came home.

Uncle Don came home.

Uncle Ron didn’t.

But people were happy.

A burden lifted.

And life became good.

I felt that burden again just yesterday

            Seventy-five years later

Only now I understand it.

            The tension

            The uncertainty

            The need to persevere

            Not knowing the outcome

            Nor how the world will be different after.