A feeling of unity is ignited by awareness
Picturing so many of us at home, seeking safety
In a lair, facing the same unfathomable challenge,
Existential quandaries imbued with worries and hopes,

Turning to books, films and music to evade reality,
Quelling perplexities with original recipes,
Enthralling scents exotic flavours reveries,
Dreaming our future world, questioning

What will it be like once the crisis is gone,
Indisputably knowing that until then
Pathogens just like fortune do not duel
On our social status, the quality of our deeds,

The colours of our accounts, blood or skin.

The Prince caught the flue, Mr. Prime Minister too.
Politicians, senators, mayors, archdukes,
Actors, singers, even the opera lirico-spinto tenor.
Athletes, priests, billionaires, small entrepreneurs,

The baker, the tobacconist, the waitress,
The bus driver, the doctor and his nurses,
Me and you, even the tramp under the bridge.
The jobless, the idle, the housewife, the healthy and sick,

The old, those who alas suffer the most.

Still, we are all rocking on the same boat,
Waiting for the tempest to pass us by, closing our eyes
Like kids at school attempting to avoid
The teacher’s attention, the interrogation.

We did not study and were not prepared.

A feeling of unity is ignited by awareness
Picturing so many of us at home,

I love you all.

[Featured artwork: Drifting Away by Erik Johansson]