Coronavirus in Spring
     (May 2020)
​
As we humans hunker down, mama, as we cower before
our invisible enemy, as we fear the breath of others and the
 
spread of ourselves, I’ve witnessed Nature’s great rebirth! The
squirrels host birthday parties in the evergreens across
 
the street, a cohort of young ladybugs is lunching on my snake
plants, and newlywed robins have acquired a nest atop my
 
porchlight. As Spring unveils a fruitful bounty, Life erupts
around us as it dances in glorious cycles. But this time, mama,  
 
I overheard the robins rejoice because we are stuck in our
homes. Even the squirrels are gossiping about it. Nature
 
relaxes as fewer humans bustle about, killing everything with
our cars and our plastic and our choices, as fewer humans
 
pluck the bird nests from the porchlights, pulp the squirrel
forests and poison the ladybug plants. So I hope, I hope, mama,
 
that this virus will give us pause. Pause to consider how many viruses
we’ve invented to plague the birds and the rodents, the fish and the bugs…
 
How many times they could not visit friends
or sell their art
or honeymoon
or feed their poor
or teach their young
or save themselves
or save each other
as we humans have run riot over them.
 
Mama, as Spring returns and humans withdraw, I hope that we
​
understand
 
that this must be how it feels to be a bear, to be a weasel,
to be a salamander.