Thoughts On A Rainy Sunday Afternoon During The 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic

     A few days ago a friend texted me the timely prose poem that has already traveled around the world and back written by the young Indian writer Haroon Rashid.

                                We Fell Asleep In One World, And Woke Up In Another

        We fell asleep in one world, and woke up in another.

        Suddenly Disney is out of magic,
       Paris is no longer romantic,
       New York doesn’t stand up anymore,
       The Chinese wall is no longer a fortress, and Mecca is empty.

       Hugs & kisses suddenly become weapons, and not visiting parents & friends becomes an act of love.
       Suddenly you realize that power, beauty & money are worthless, and can't get you the oxygen you're fighting for.
       The world continues its life and it is beautiful. It only puts humans in cages. I think it's sending us a message:
       "You are not necessary. The air, earth, water and sky without you are fine. When you come back, remember that you are my guests. Not my masters.”

     When I read that beautiful, heart-tugging poem it hit me that I had myself been thinking along somewhat the same line as the poet.
       In fact, without us the the air, earth, water and sky are more than fine.

   As we've seen in the few months since the coronavirus has curtailed and shut down a great portion of human activity, sea life has proliferated in the oceans,

​and along now-pristine beaches.

   The world's waters have become cleaner,

​...and healthier for animal life,

...as has the planet  become healthier for animal life in general.

​     And, thanks to the great fall in pollution-causing global emissions, there are now blue skies the world over.

     It's amazing how little time it took for the planet to begin healing itself from the blight of human activity. That at least is a comforting and heartening thought during this otherwise terrible time.
      And while the poet believes that the current pandemic is the world sending us a message, in that  same vein the thought has crossed my mind that maybe the purpose of this plague, from whatever creative force or power fashioned it and set it upon us, has been to teach us a lesson; and that, no matter how we fight it, it won't leave us and return to its source until we've learned that lesson.

References:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/09/climate-crisis-amid-coronavirus-lockdown-nature-bounces-back-but-for-how-long

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2020/04/13/closed-beaches-waterways-due-to-coronavirus-has-south-floridas-oceans-looking-clear-and-beautiful/

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2020-04-24/endangered-turtles-reclaim-thailands-beaches-during-coronavirus-lockdown