Two and a Half Million Seconds
Two and a half million seconds
That’s how long we were told to put our lives on hold
To have to seclude ourselves from the world
From our friends and family
Two and a half million seconds
Of no working
No restaurants
No activities
No learning
Two and a half million seconds
Of buying toilet paper
And face masks
And bottled water
And ramen noodles
Those two and a half million seconds
Are filled with panic
And anxiety
And anger
And questions
Two and a half million seconds
Spent washing your hands
And practicing social distancing
And watching the news
And praying for your loved ones
Two and a half million seconds
Was what we were told on March 13th
Far sooner than anyone expected
Far harsher than we could believe
Two and a half million seconds later
Will things be different?
Will our lives be back to normal?
Will it be safe to be around others?
Two million seconds later:
Things have not gotten better
They have only gotten worse
And the world is still scared
Two million seconds later
They make a new announcement
“Continue what you are doing
For an additional three weeks”
We thought we were halfway done!
That grocery stores could be restocked
That graduation could still go on
That track season wouldn’t be canceled
That we could see our friends soon
In these two million seconds we’ve
Lied to our parents about where we’re going
Bought a dress only to miss prom
Disregarded the 6 foot rule
Cried over the lost experiences
Two and a half million seconds
Turned into four and a half million seconds overnight
Two and a half million seconds more
To try to survive this mental game
Two and a half million seconds?
What a joke
It wasn’t two and a half million seconds
It was so much more
That two and a half million seconds
Became our last semester
And our entire summer
And the beginning of the next year
If you really want to know
What that number actually is
How much time has gone by
It’s fourteen million seconds.
And now we’ve come to the point
Where we aren’t waiting for an end
But rather remaking our lives
So we no longer have to suspend
Copyright © Laura Smith | Year Posted 2021
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