What Still Works and Does Not

This bleak pandemic,

unsettling and quite deadly,

claims some positives.

Power grids prevail.

So do phones, internet, mail,

police and fire crews.

For those who can pay,

food supplies mostly arrive,

disruptions short-lived.

With dedication,

medical infrastructure

holds up though tested.

Village in action,

volunteers emerge to help

those needing support.

Despite achieving

moderate integrity,

system faults persist.

Widespread suffering

from lost jobs, lives, and routines

masks inequities.

The plea to expunge

stubborn inequalities

begs for attention.

Fairness when absent

imperils group long-term strength,

thwarting full promise.

The Long Haul Begins

Pandemic effects

lingering intractably

reframe normalcy.

Once contagion stays,

resilience frays at last.

The long haul begins.

Self-doubt will persist,

fostered by this epic plague's

ominous death toll.

What strength can be mined?

Will one's foundational truths

aid forward movement?

As firm counterweight,

honest doubt hovers throughout

existential angst.

How best to resist?

Premature surrender tempts

even the strong-willed.

At a Crossroads?

Job and structure loss,

worsened by vast disruptions

frays stability.

Stripped of jobs and means,

workers crave restoration

of earning power.

To survive and grow.

firms strive for financial strength,

light-touch oversight.

Product shortages
disrupt supplies and pricing,
needing correction.

Essential worker
income inequality 
tests priorities.

Poverty's role in
survival disparities
challenges fairness.

Still stunned consumers
staggering from brutal loss,
refrain from spending.

Healthcare providers
seared by unrelenting stress
step back to restore.

The economy,
missing strong participants,
fails to reopen.

Civic leaders caught
by a partisan divide
strain at consensus.

Stressed social contract
invites appraisal to gain
a broad renewal.

Unfolding events
mired in deep uncertainty,
straddle fear and hope.