What strikes me most
Like a hammer
Battering my head
Again and again
Three strikes
And you're out

Oh no!

Our skulls have been
Battered and battered again
A triple whammy
In this mad year of 2020
Bruised and bloody
We might be
But my skull's thick
What about yours?

Resilience continues
Despite the hard knocks
Look at Kathy
In her new furnished shed
Getting on with life
Taking fate with a strong hand
And turning it around

I feel lucky
Despite the way
The cards spread out
On the card table of life
Certainly not a full hand
Of aces
But maybe three queens

That's a hand I can
Deal with for now
Hoping the devil will
Give up this game of chance
Go off and dance
In another universe

This bloody virus
Will slow us down
For a good long while
I'll have to give up
Visiting the Sallies
Every other day
Collecting all the bits and pieces
To recreate a functional dwelling

In the meantime
I like you
Will have the time
To think
Reflect
Contemplate
Find new creative directions

Kathy will find her piece of wood
And some glass
I pray for it daily
She'll turn her resilience
Into a new piece of art
Reflecting a new reality

Melissa and Marilyn and more
Will continue to delight us
With their amazing verse
Others will take up the pen
The brush, the carving and weaving
The illustrating and pottery

At the end of this
Unexpected unwelcomed
Dilemma we'll have
A great arts fair
Celebrating a new world
Created out of our determination
To strike back
At the hand of fate

This time
However
The hammer
Will be
In our own hands!