Yesterday...

I walked by a cemetery yesterday,
row after row of headstones marking
the final resting place of people
much beloved by someone- and
my heart began to break for those
long-ago unknowns- at least to me...and
my heart began to break for those who
have died of this latest plague and the
loved ones they have left behind...and
my heart began to break for all the mothers
giving birth alone and all the elders dying
alone without their loved ones by their side...and
my heart began to break for all the health workers,
from doctors and nurses and CNAs to those who
clean the floors and guard the doors- all of them
risking themselves so others might have care...and
my heart began to break for the postal workers
and delivery people and gas station attendants and
bus drivers who are keeping things going, even
as we are supposed to shelter in place...and
my heart began to break for those stocking
the shelves and filling the prescriptions and
making repairs and responding to calls to 9-1-1,
doing what needs to be done in behalf of others...and
my heart began to break for all who have lost
so much, whose lives are irrevocably changed...and
I realized I was grieving for myself, too...and
I sat on the bench at the edge of the cemetery
and wept.