Shall we not shake hands again,

Shall we never hug,

Are our smiles destined to be

Buried under a rug?

 

Will dread dictate the circumference

Of our natural step,

And unlovely caution circumscribe

Our zest, our living pep?

 

Will life remain forever wrapped

In a cocoon of death,

Decreeing how we may regulate

The free flow of our breath?

 

Will we our spaces negotiate

Like monkeys on the hop,

Suspicious of the next man’s reach,

Dithering from toe to top?

 

Better than a zombied world

A bold confrontation

With a dread that makes of life

A mere continuation.

 

Let us the virus make our own

And will our human system

To smother the wily invader

Like a spider to its web victim.

 

Rather that than quiver

From one breath to the next;

What worth is a life by fear enslaved,

By dread forever vexed?

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