We were masters of our universe
until we weren’t.
And one tiny virus slammed our world to a standstill.
Two cruise ships marooned out at sea,
empty like our calendars and classrooms,
playgrounds and theatres,
hallowed out husks,
far from what they were intended to be.
When we dare make plans
we worry they will be the one decision
that sends us to our grave.
When will we be free of the fear
and be masters once again?
Or is the time for mastery over?
Were we never really masters to begin with?
We cling to the belief
that one day we will once again
enjoy a social life,
board a plane,
go to a bar and dance,
in a sweaty mass of humanity.
A hug.
A handshake.
The ability to see another person
and not be terrified of what they carry
in the invisible particles of their life force.
We took it all for granted
but would give anything
to have it back.
Two ships marooned.
A billion people lost at sea,
waiting for land to appear on the horizon.
Author Bio:
Cynthia DiTiberio is a writer and collaborator who has worked in the book business for the past eighteen years. Books were her first love and remain her favorite thing in the world. She worked as an editor at a division of HarperCollins for nine years before becoming a ghostwriter. She has just started writing on her own after collaborating on eleven books over the last eight years. With two elementary aged children at home, she sometimes finds the brevity of poetry to be the kind of writing she can handle right now and has found it soothing to put onto the page the strange feelings and emotions of 2020. She was born in St. Louis, went to college in North Carolina, and has called the Bay Area home for the last nineteen years. Highlights of her career include getting to work with Frederick Buechner, having her second collaboration optioned by Reese Witherspoon and New Line Cinema, and being featured on the cover of the San Francisco Chronicle at the age of twenty-seven for her work launching a new line of Christian fiction.
until we weren’t.
And one tiny virus slammed our world to a standstill.
Two cruise ships marooned out at sea,
empty like our calendars and classrooms,
playgrounds and theatres,
hallowed out husks,
far from what they were intended to be.
When we dare make plans
we worry they will be the one decision
that sends us to our grave.
When will we be free of the fear
and be masters once again?
Or is the time for mastery over?
Were we never really masters to begin with?
We cling to the belief
that one day we will once again
enjoy a social life,
board a plane,
go to a bar and dance,
in a sweaty mass of humanity.
A hug.
A handshake.
The ability to see another person
and not be terrified of what they carry
in the invisible particles of their life force.
We took it all for granted
but would give anything
to have it back.
Two ships marooned.
A billion people lost at sea,
waiting for land to appear on the horizon.
Author Bio:
Cynthia DiTiberio is a writer and collaborator who has worked in the book business for the past eighteen years. Books were her first love and remain her favorite thing in the world. She worked as an editor at a division of HarperCollins for nine years before becoming a ghostwriter. She has just started writing on her own after collaborating on eleven books over the last eight years. With two elementary aged children at home, she sometimes finds the brevity of poetry to be the kind of writing she can handle right now and has found it soothing to put onto the page the strange feelings and emotions of 2020. She was born in St. Louis, went to college in North Carolina, and has called the Bay Area home for the last nineteen years. Highlights of her career include getting to work with Frederick Buechner, having her second collaboration optioned by Reese Witherspoon and New Line Cinema, and being featured on the cover of the San Francisco Chronicle at the age of twenty-seven for her work launching a new line of Christian fiction.
RSS Feed