So I should consider it okay
if it’s my Mom, age 88,
blind from strokes, confined to a care facility
and, wait for it,
giddy with the joy of new found love.
Or my wife, a cancer survivor,
who looks too young to be in any high-risk population.
Or our son who was born premature and
has been fighting the odds each new day.
Or one of my grandkids, (Who would dare to
tell me that any of my grandkids are merely fodder
so we can save our precious economy?)
Oh, and add to the list life-long friends,
co-workers, neighbors and acquaintances.
And you want me to believe
their death is acceptable because:
as Americans our rights are sacred and demand risks,
or they probably have some
weakening condition and would soon die,
or it is just their time,
or (please spare me)
god called them home
(or to a better place,
or fill in the vapid cliché of your choice).
That’s all I have.
But I’m sure you have more.
So, please enlighten me as to
why I should gratefully fight for and
enjoy my rights and privileges
even at the cost of the life
of one of these, so dear to me?
Put a dollar value on, say, John Prine? Great post, Jim.
ReplyDeleteso much pain and loss...
DeleteYou nailed it. Good job.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jim, you've touched my heart.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jim. Ovarian cancer here. I, too, would likely be considered expendable.
ReplyDeleteNot to us and many others!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI very much enjoy reading your perspective. Heart filled and questioning. Thank you!❤️
ReplyDelete