'The World is Closed' poem update and New Year Greetings

Hi everyone,

I'd been planning to post a New Year message and was looking for some inspiration, about the passing of the old year and the coming of the new one, when this poem suddenly flagged up again. Several newer members had recently read it and 'liked' it.

I was surprised to see that I'd first posted it 8 months ago and, at that time, had very little inkling that we'd still be enduring such restricted lives and be living with such a high level of danger of falling foul of COVID-19.

During the first period of lockdown when the poem got posted, there was a good deal of camaraderie out there in the world. A sense of pulling together and caring for each other and our world. Sadly, for so many reasons, most of this has now dissipated. It's hard to maintain high levels of cheerfulness in times of such frustration and danger.

We still have our heroes of the day, like Captain Tom Moore, and others who tackled the crisis by doing something amazing and constructive, and there was something very cheering about the way in which we all pulled together.

At Christmas I wished everyone hopefulness, and for New Year I think I'd like to wish us all patience. Nothing lasts forever. Not winter, not even life itself and almost certainly not an untamed COVID-19. With the coming of vaccines we have hope and now we just need the patience to get through the coming months, moving towards a brighter future.

And I want to thank all of our community members for being there for each other and making such a very valuable contribution to the well-being of us all.

So here's to a happier New Year and huge thanks to all who offer shoulders to cry on, humour, pictures and cheering words to help us all on our way.

Photo, Unsplash: Olena Sergienko