March 2020

​The considerable surprise of this great transmission
Is the surge of kindness between strangers.
Not all contagions are injurious.
 
Fevers rise; so does our insistence on compassion.
Overwhelmed caregivers in Asia and in my town
Demonstrate we are not immune to each other’s suffering.
 
I am not afraid to be infected by illness as much
As I am afraid to succumb to the illusion of separation.
We may be distant but we are not apart.