pandemic fears at the grocery store
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Pandemic Thoughts

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PANDEMIC WORDS in the grocery store
spoken by yours truly:

Excuse me you’re getting a little too close.
6 feet apart PLEASE. 
I’m trying to keep 6 feet apart.
You are going the WRONG way.
Please don’t come so close to me.
Forgive me, I am SCARED!

PANDEMIC WORDS definitely not spoken
in the grocery store:

DON’T come near me!
DON’T touch me!
Are you kidding? You TOUCHED me! 
GET away!!!
This is NOT 6 feet. 
If you come near me I’m going to COUGH!
I’ll call the security guard
HOW DARE YOU!
What is WRONG with you? Don’t you realize we’re in a PANDEMIC?

Can you relate?

I do not like going in the stores. 
I do not like being around people,
I do not feel safe, it’s feels weird. 
Still, I find my way there,
with caution
and a sense of disdain. 

I wash my hands obsessively, 
concerned about touching anything,
watching vigilantly for offenders.
But shop I must
or my 89-year-old mom,
bless her heart, 
is threatening to do so herself. 

I feel more a part of life
when I go to the stores. 
If I see fewer cars in the parking lot,
I creep in
hoping it will not be 
busy. 

People still 
BUMP into me,
walk close to me
and SURPRISE 
cough near me
Thank G-d for masks 

Could I ask you to keep your distance?
I really don’t want to offend, 
“I am the pandemic police” I say,

To everything there is a time, 
a time this virus came to be
and a time for it to end,
with disbelief, 
awe, 
screams of joy 
relief, 
hugs and kisses, 
and much much more. 

Can you envision 
this momentous occasion?
How will you react?
How will the world evolve?
I can’t wait
to find out!

pandemic thoughts

Life Goes On

I wrote this after watching a funeral on zoom recently for a friend who passed away from COVID 19. It wasn’t a normal funeral, I was alone watching, and these thoughts came to me.

I find it amazing
 that life goes 
  on 
   when 
    someone
     dies. 

It seems 
 to stop. 
  to cease. 

To be with
 and honor
  those
   who have
    moved 
     on

Yet this 
 is also part of life

We stop. 
 we pause. 
  we reflect, 

about 
 that 
  person. 

Our friend 
 Our mother 
  Our father 
   Our brother 
    Our sister

Our child,
 taken from us. 

Yes,
 it is 
  amazing,
   that 
    life
     goes 
      on.

Read more by Hinda Blum.

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3 Comments

  1. Hinda, on re-reading thes, I think you did a great job. RE: the pandemic, people will definitely relate and be shaking their heads thinking, “yes, that’s me.” Your funeral poem is also easy to relate to, especially in these strange times. I hope you posted them to your FB page so others can appreciate them.

  2. Hinda, you did a great job capturing how many of us are feeling about the virus and staying safe. Also, the one about your loss is really heart-wrenching. I loved it.