SAME OLD

That’s what we all say, during this time of the pandemic when we call or write to friends and family.

What else can we say about what is happening?

We slog along, eating at home, shopping at home, exercising at home, for where else can we safely go? Numbers of virus infections go up, ever up, while tragic deaths are constantly on the rise.

We mourn for many thousands lost and the families they left behind. We pray for medical personnel on the front lines. We are aghast at some in our country who refuse to take even rudimentary precautions to contain the spread. We wonder how it is possible for them to deny the overwhelming evidence from the experts on this deadly scourge.

Meanwhile, a supposed leader who added to the death toll with his cavalier attitude, whined and protested the fact that he had been fired by the majority of the people of this country. We wait — for leaders with more compassion, for the vaccine to be widely available for the healthy, and for more effective treatments for those so ill. We wait, and live same old while we do.

Clark is a published writer from Oceanside who also edits an online poetry journal, “Voices on the Wind.”