“Pandemic Positive” — a poem by Ada Jo Mann (Chad)

Pandemic Positive

by Ada Jo Mann (Chad 1967-69)

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I wake to find this virus has stopped time
and everyone on earth must make a change
to focus effort on the greater good
and forge a path that creates something new
that urges us to find ways to relate
to demonstrate the many ways we care.

A daily focus must be on self care,
if not our strength will surely fade in time.
Technology can help us to relate
and guide us as we navigate the change.
Our innovations usher in the new.
Our actions must support the greater good.

How is it we can’t find the needed goods?
It seems our current leaders just don’t care,
though early on the highest levels knew
and kept denying, wasting precious time
It’s mandatory now that we must change
For now it’s at a distance we relate.

So ZOOM it is, that helps us to relate
An engine that can steer us toward the good
as we create together needed change
and show the world how much each of us cares
to try and stop the spread in record time
and hope that we can think up something new.

Let’s build on strengths as we create the new
Our best ideas come as we relate
Bring forth the ones that meet the test of time
and keep your eye on what supports the good
and that which helps us offer the best care
while shedding what we know impedes the change.

It’s often times like these that brings forth change
and forces us to grapple with the new
and re-examine ways to show we care,
while we use modern ways to help relate.
Keeping close makes all of us feel good
Communication wiles away the time

Embrace our state of change as we relate
Let’s celeberate the new and common good.
It’s how we care that will succeed in time.

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Ada Jo Mann (Chad 1967-69) is a co-author of Positive Family Dynamics: Appreciative  Inquiry Questions to Bring Out the Best in Families (Taos Institute, Tempo Series, 2008)