Quiet little bird
Lonely chirps
Fell to the ground
Unheard
Heart fell asleep
I should of known
You better longer
I will miss your
Meek waves
Quiet little bird

Our family tree
Woah is me
Has termites

No pictures to prove
Who is who
Boo hoo hoo

Should it matter
Would it make us sadder
If we searched the history of us

Would we find
We are royalty
Or just of the toilet seat

We might find the dad
Who went away
Or was just led astray

Find the town
We are from
Exact locations say some

A can
Of worms
Or just deserts

Do we have to know
Will it make us
Grow

Maybe all we need
Is these little seeds
Of us now to plant

The small tree
Start fresh
Of just you and me

Pookie the velvety frog
Charlie the blue tailed purple rat
The little grey mouse with pink ears
I couldn’t leave them
All alone in a separated bin
In giant second hand land
They needed me to save them
Or they may become trash
I begged Grandma- see!
Help me-help them!
Relief... thank you Grandma
They became my “best ofs”
Second hand toys
But not second hand friends

You promised to have and to hold
You lied, you took and you stole
Left five kids to go be a sinner
I hope you eat those words daily
For breakfast, lunch and dinner

Readers can see the pain
Writers can scribe the pain
Artists can sketch the pain
Physicians can ease the pain
Loved ones can kiss the pain
Music can drown the pain
Food can comfort the pain
Laughter can endorphin the pain

What remains?
The pain—always there
No matter what we try
Physical or mental or emotional
Can blend into all of these
No matter how, it’s there
It’s there, it’s there, it’s there
Suffering our own is tough
Trying to understand the pain
In someone else’s shoes...
Even harder

Pain wants to yell and scream
Or be silent and groan inside
So why do we care?
Because of empathy
Lend an ear to hear to listen
To comprehend
To have compassion

We may have no answers
But catching someone else’s pain
When they want to throw it
Even for just a moment
Time offers a chance for relief
Just knowing we are heard

Social distancing: difficult but doable

Social security distancing: they had better not!

Sociopath distancing: no problem

Social media distancing: impossible

Socialite distancing: also no problem

Social worker distancing: probably shouldn’t

We are paying with our time
We are paying with our money
We even pay with our health
To watch people
Get paid to pretend
To be other people

Stranded on a dessert island
Great, there goes my diet

Stranded on a deserted island
Great, there goes my diet