Downtime. A Poem by Michael Estabrook

This too will pass greater minds have stated
we hope sooner rather than later
and life will go on
it’s happened before and life prevailed:
• Plague of Justinian in 541 (40 million killed)
• Black Death in 1348 (50 million killed)
• Great Plague of Marseille in 1720 (100,000 killed)
• Third Cholera Pandemic in 1852 (1 million killed)
• Spanish flu in 1918 (50 million killed)
The trick is to make good use of this “downtime”
of staying at home, sheltering-in-place avoiding people, places and things
trying to maintain
a positive attitude doing little projects
to pass the time rather
than wasting time depressed
and lost in the dark wood waiting
for the light but honestly
what’s the point.