invisible cost
lockdowns, now a distant
memory
and what was lost,
most of it clearly visible,
deaths upon deaths, far less preventable
than we thought,
empty retail stores, now so quaint in the
Amazon era,
shuttered small shops and
restaurants,
For Your Own Good,
of course —
they’d rather you die of starvation
than disease —
and some of it invisible,
children brought up
to fear the air,
critical period learning loss
never to be recovered,
young adult milestones, cancelled,
taken for granted before 2019
we know to be so precious now,
and my own selfish reason:
aging Millennials,
sliding towards middle age,
some of whom will look back
in 2050, alone,
at their last chance for a family,
gone forever
a man, such as myself,
and the last woman that really stoked his flames
separated from each other
For The Greater Good,
now she’s over there
and I’m over here,
neither of us
getting any younger,
the window closing,
God’s sovereignty
not telling him what he wants to hear
with each passing day.
I might be married by now, he thinks,
I might be an expectant father
I just wanted the chance
to find out
only thing for sure,
I’ll never know
will they talk about us
in 2050?
or sweep us under the rug
like the other invisible costs?
dunno.
