Post Pandemic Poem

What did we learn?

The world is back

I think

As I see the planes lining up in the sky

One

After another

After another

Seemingly seconds apart

Drifting toward the airport

Skies

Empty for nearly

Two years

Now alive again

Like the cafe down the street

With millennials

Lined up down the block

Up down?

Awaiting the latest hippest spot

All of the hunkering down

And staying in

A slight memory

The fear

The angst

The masks

Tucked away

Like old photographs

Shoved in a drawer

It was all so real

And now 

Life

Comes speeding back at us

Is that what we want?

Is there a middle ground?

What have we learned?

What do we value?

Can we slow down

In a world that has been pent up

Longing

Longing

For what had been lost

And now found

And yet

There are things 

To keep

From that strange time

The nature

The gatherings outdoors

The fire pits

The singing from the balconies

The camaraderie

From a distance

The writing and reading

The breath

Found

To calm the anxiety

The trees

The birds

The cleaner air

The family

Home.