Here we sit once again wondering what to do.
Hour by hour, day by day, as all the months ensue.
Watching spring as it turns to summer
and summer then to fall.
Now it is winter, the snowflakes fly
as we watch the drifts grow tall.
When it all started everything stopped
with a fast and jolting halt.
Not knowing what hit us, how long it would last.
Or if it was all our fault.
Some thought it was God punishing us
but this I did not believe.
For I know that our true God loves us
and would not ever deceive.
He gave us free choice. The culprit lies there.
The stupidity of man.
Those who won’t listen – think they have rights –
care not of their fellow man. Now thousands dead and many more sick
as millions work hand in hand.
Mustarding all the love that they can
in the midst of the COVID demand.
We pray for essential workers
who put their lives on the line.
We pray for all grieving families
And hold them in heart and mind.
Then finally there’s a light in sight
that will guide us through all this distress.
Is it a miracle? Could it be true?
Will our misery start to grow less?
A vaccine, a hope, an encouraging call.
Will the numbers finally fall?
And how will we change? What’s the future for us?
Will we touch the lowly and small?
Care more of those souls who’ve been terribly scarred?
Doctors and nurses, who battled so hard?
Will we give a warm smile to that homeless man?
Will we give more to charities and lend hand?
Will we breathe the air deeply and forget human ranks?
Will we greet the next veteran with a handshake of thanks?
For if we don’t when all of this ends, what will the history books say?
That we didn’t know how blessed we were to live fully another day?
Let all our children, young and old, and generations to come.
Know that this COVID has left us all so sad, afraid, and numb.
Let’s make some big changes from all we’ve done wrong.
Watch our togetherness help us grow strong.
Be this a reminder of the good given us.
To spread all the love that our God entrusts.

Suzanne McGill-Anderson is a longtime Clarkston resident, living in town for the past 32 years.
She recently retired from teaching third grade in Brandon School District, and her three sons graduated from Clarkston Community Schools.
“Besides rock paining, model making and cooking more than I ever have, COVID has brought out a bit of a writer in me,” she said. “Sometimes, it’s like the words are bursting in me and I have to put them on paper. It’s fun to see what comes out.”