As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to put city after city under lockdown, there has been a myriad of reports highlighting how bringing life as we know it to a halt has impacted the environment.
China was the first to see historic drops in the harmful pollutant nitrogen dioxide, with one scientist even demonstrating how tens of thousands of lives could be saved from premature deaths linked to air pollution.
A must-read poem.
THE HEALING EARTH
Two centuries ago you came. A century ago you came back. Today, you are here knocking at our door. We thought you will never come. Little did we know you will. Don’t you know we are a new generation? We plead for your departure. For how long will you stay? We are fed up already.
Isolation, we embraced. Nations assumed a new way of life. House arrest for everyone. Streets are empty and quiet. Wildlife in charge of the beautiful romantic landscape. Man is jealous.
Spring touched on not knowing Man can’t welcome it. No sunbathing. No trips. We thought it was just for a while, But reality catches up.
Society learned a new culture. Reading books. Listening. Exercising. Virtual world we go. Instantaneous, Speed we catch. FaceTiming. Tweeting. Facebooking. Gaming. We are technology freaks.
Artists are more creative. Children, Adults, the rich, the poor they play together. And perhaps people learning new ways of being, More deeply they listened. Subtly they eavesdropped.
Faith put to test. Prayer, meditation are the pills for boredom. People begin to think differently. Humanity and hospitality playing out so well.
In solitary, some people living ignorantly, dangerously, meaningless and callously. At the frontline of this rage Sacrifices are being made. Humanity begins to change its ways. The earth is healing. The oceans are blue. The rivers are still and calm. The sky detoxifies and is blue.
We grieve for the dead. New goals we set of uncertainty. Dreaming new visions. New choices we make. Adapting new ways of living. And the sound of victory is occupying each space. The earth is healing.
Source:Â Koak Ohene, Contributor