This should have been a crossroads

for us to build,

to pull together

as a virus killed

 

We owe it to each other

to inspect attempts

how trust and panic

unraveled events

 

Arrogance swelled

in crushing amounts,

unmasking the selfish

in public accounts

 

Two weeks became months

and then years,

adjusting to strains

among our peers

 

Decades of effort

for the war were employed,

in a global endeavor

to flee this void

 

Remedies arrived

and guided lots,

but didn’t sway

enough by loss

 

This could have been a crossroads

for common ground,

but acid fell flocks

that charged as they drowned

 

Fanatics fanned delusion

of carnage unhindered,

concluding mandates

were existence rescinded

 

If we didn’t band here

we might never again,

if we can’t admit proof,

we’ll seal our own end

 

This could have been a crossroads

to assess disparity

in hospitals, clinics,

outreach and charity

 

Affluent to third world

the problems repeated,

from staffing and resources

to reserves depleted

 

Most governments reacted

how you’d think,

with the efficient resilient,

and the rest on the brink

 

The vulnerable were hit hardest,

because of course they were;

they’re usually the first

to come last through the door

 

This crisis turned a spotlight

where society has regressed,

as neighborhoods fail

from needs unmet

 

This was not a crossroads,

despite dire omens,

locked in cycles

with perspective stolen

 

It’s disappointing on levels

rewritten each surge,

as burnout crippled

the spur to emerge

 

We were urged to look

beyond ourselves,

to fill our hearts

amid empty shelves

 

Someone’s concern

was another’s neglect,

with shades of mercy

but absent respect

 

The slightest regard

for occasional concession

disfigured compassion

as all out repression

 

This might have been a crossroads,

if we listened close,

and avoided cures

prescribed by post

 

We had to balance

living and exposure,

our station in life,

and duties shouldered

 

Financial distress

penned too many plans,

reopening in spite of

what we didn’t understand

 

Years from now

when we analyze this,

will we realize the chance

we clearly missed

 

Will upheaval teach us

if next time’s worse

in what should have been a crossroads

but set us in reverse