Believe by Melinda Cochrane

They say
the pandemic is causing 
us to dream more while asleep,
people talking 
about the struggle for breath,

as we struggle to keep the faith,

mass graves being built, 
- they say find hope,

panic setting in some, anxiety turning into frustration,
families waiting for the government cheques to pass through,
it's dark, it's so dark outside right now,

we struggle to find our faith

our parents hideaway, we watch them on video,
and don't want them to go anywhere, please don't go out,

then the quiet, the streets don't move, the trees bend,
the birds fly overhead, the silence is steady and the world 

slows down to cope,

and we struggle to find our faith

someone wakes up early, opens the curtains, 
and the light, the beautiful sunlight arrives just as
the fear from those nighttime dreams take flight,

and another person's fever stops,
and they breathe,
breathe confidently,

tears from the night on an old woman's face in a nursing home disappear, disappear in the sound of her 
daughter's voice telling her- "Mom, you made it",
and it rings out for the world to hear too

​We will make it.
We will breathe.
Believe.
By Melinda Cochrane

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