the weight of our hours

blown dandylynn flowers

seeds that have soured

we’ve grown empowered

moths fly unincumbered

knowing we slumbered

your days renumbered

wage to be plundered

pandemic has shown us

you’ve defied onus

relied on the slowness

and tried to disown us

the floor of this ocean

will lift with a motion

forward and with emotion

decry hope with a notion

our time labored will not be lost

long as the yield hold us all aloft

still you say, “At what cost?”

regretfully sliding beads across

Jeni Alden St. Laurent

Nashua

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