Sheltered in our places, unsure of what would pass, the virus spread around us as we held our breathe. Looking out our windows, the world was still.
The shock of empty roads, no rumble from our cars, the land had grown so quiet, only earthquakes from afar. The land was very still.
The whales surfaced in Vancouver where the fishing boats used to buzz. The dolphins played on Hawaiian shores, where tourists liked to flood. The reefs began to fill, because the ocean was so still.
The engines of economy squealed, shook, and sputtered. The hungry became hungrier and the rich became unsettled. We all wanted control, still.
Was Earth still a human playground, as the deer took over London? Missiles slept inside their burrows, until we could make our thunder. How can our planet thrive while we survive?
Pollution wanes from New York to Milan, from Los Angeles to Wuhan. Global warming slows and the Earth seems to breathe. This is how we save the world, humanity gives reprieve. We can save it, still.
The medics wiped their brows, the clinic staff stayed late. They fought, then frayed, without a shield during this outbreak. Yet they serve us still.
Heartbreak for those who died alone. Heartache for those without a home. How can our hearts be still?
But not all was pain, as music makers played. We sang to neighbors and cheered the brave. We gave our songs and then were still.
We had to face ourselves, who had we become? Where are we going next and what was truly done? Be still.
Fear and rage at our disrupted pace, and hate inside when we were told to wait. Old feelings arose anew, looking to escape the very place where they hid inside our inner space. These were no longer still.
Itʻs clear that our frantic pace comes from that race to escape our past mistakes that we didn’t want to face. Can you be still?
These trapped emotions that drive us are now free from the routines that bind us. What wisdom will your feelings find? What talents will emerge, what gifts will finally shine?
Humanity begins to see how it devastates. It gives us a chance to elevate. The personal sacrifice felt, that price of our past daily lives. But most of us just want to return to our unconscious daily grind. We donʻt want to be still.
The relationship to ourselves creates the world around us. Our inner wars now storming, confined inside our houses. Nature, in bloom and wholly still.
But if we face the wars within, and release our need to win, together we can pass through this storm, and gain the chance to make our new norm. Slow down, feel it all, see each others’ eyes, let the walls fall. We’re all connected, still.
What choice will we make as we re-emerge from our homes? Will we covet the Earth like a precious stone, or will we embrace each other and finally belong?
