A Tribute
Your eyes all tired and red
for you haven’t slept in days.
You work all hours, day and night
Your cabin now a triage
you have no place to even sit
and rest your feet a bit.
The scrubs you use are now
to be reused, for patients
come in dozens by the minute.
No time to sip coffee, tea, or even water,
you don’t recall when you last ate!
No momentary pause
you are on call all day.
You leave your children, husband, wife,
mom, dad, brother, sister,
without a hug or a kiss,
so they stay safe.
No time to even worry
if and when you will see them next.
No bathroom breaks, or calls home
to say, you are safe.
The fears, the tears, and
the choke you hold within
never shown or shared.
With no classes taught,
or time to prepare,
no proper equipment,
or protective gear,
and resources so scarce,
you were just thrown
in the frontlines
of this Pandemic,
and expected to do your best
without thinking of your own life
or that of your family.
******
Thank you seems so small a word, for no amount of gratitude will ever suffice for all the doctors, the nurses, the first responders, the hospital staff, and to all those who are working so selflessly and tirelessly to save lives. How terribly wrong and ungrateful it will be of us to not listen and not cooperate, and to keep expecting more of their selflessness and sacrifice than what they are already giving. The least we can do, is to stay home with our families, so they can come home to theirs!
Anita R Mohan is a poet and Freelance writer from Fairfax, Virginia.
