Beautiful poem

A friend sent this beautiful poem that we want to share with you:

Poem by Fr. Richard Hendrick, OFM
March 13th 2020.

“Lockdown”

Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.

They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open

so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighbourhood

So that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary

All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters
To Love

So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation
But there does not have to be loneliness
Yes there is panic buying
But there does not have to be meanness

Yes there is sickness
But there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes there is even death
But there can always be a rebirth of love
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now
Today, breathe
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again

The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing.
​