If you can keep your social distance, when all about you are breaking the rules And teach your kids from home now there are no more schools If you can trust yourself to wash your hands And cast aside your cherished plans If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or stuck at home find the will to exercise Or cooped up with family and not give into hating.
If you can dream- but take each day as it comes If you can think, read, listen, learn If you can smile at someone on one of your runs And believe that normality will return If you can bear to watch the news, take in what’s spoken Let it sink in, but not fell you And know that not everything is forever broken, Things will be alright, this much I can tell you
If you can make one heap of all your food And cook and eat your meals If you can call someone in a quiet interlude And know how love feels If you can ask your heart and nerve and sinew To keep you steady, well and strong Do it. We’ll get through it No matter how long.
If you can talk with crowds, don’t . Stay home. For the NHS and everyone on the frontline. If standing together means walking alone I’ll protect your family if you protect mine If you understand that we each have a part to play in bringing this under control And that only together we’ll save lives, as proof of our soul.
By Clair Whitefield