January. The excitement of a new year, the cold that stings your nose,

everybody is trying to stick to their resolutions that only last a week or so. 

The kids would rather stay at home and play out in the snow, and with the snow comes 

February. Love might be in the air, but the smell of roses cannot encompass all its beauty. 

We hold onto that love, and it becomes a lifeline that can shock your very soul into existence

or send the walls inside you crashing down. The crash came in 

March. Busy streets became desolate, shelves inside stores went bare. 

Fear masked the world, there was not a smile anywhere. 

Silence was never more deafening, the wail of sirens never more petrifying.

The tears of those who lost that love 

outnumbered the raindrops in 

April. Hospitals turned into battlefields, screens became schools, 

home felt like prison, and we wondered what we did to deserve this.

Numbers and graphs never meant so much, 

and when your mind is racing from one thought to the next, it really is hard to concentrate.

Music did its best to assuage the anxiety,

but nothing can be a convincing façade for a lost life, a lost love. 

May. May we all return to normalcy sometime soon? 

May we one day shake hands with someone we’ve never met 

and not think twice about washing our hands right after?

May we be able to hug and kiss our family again and regain the love that we lost?

Maybe there may be a bright side to this,

 maybe the warmth may make it go away, come 

June. Come, June! It was not just the students who were waiting to catch a break.

 Little did we know it was far from over.

So, we had to stick together, yet fight the battle apart.

We thought back to how life used to be, and how quickly it all changed… 

That just can’t be. 

Yes, and we just have to let it be. 

July. Warm summer days opened their arms 

only to embrace no children running about.

Empty fields breathed a sigh of relief, while the players sighed in sadness.

But the silence was broken with cheers from city rooftops,

to everyday heroes who deserve to wear capes. 

The streets were filled again in 

August. We the people became more unequal. 

Some raised their voices, but chaos still ensued.

All we wanted was justice and peace, 

for the ones in uniform and the wrongly deceased. 

September. Schools across the world welcomed students back with a hidden smile, 

promising that we would be in this together, six feet apart.

It’s hard to learn sometimes when trapped behind a transparent cage. 

But autumn is a season of new beginnings, and the beginnings fell into routine by 

October. The world reminded us that death is all around and ever-present,

but we still wondered how it could be such a beautiful thing.

We still wondered why death has no mercy, why love can hurt so much, 

and why some people just don’t wear masks anymore.

 Halloween’s frights could never compare to the news on TV.

November. It seemed out of place to have a day to give thanks.

But an attitude of gratitude shines like a light bulb in the darkness,

illuminating what was never truly lost. 

The outside world tried to rain on our parade, 

but our love was revealed once more, now stronger than ever before. 

The threat, indeed, has become stronger this 

December. As pretty lights are strung on trees, and menorahs are lit for all to see,

we have new reasons for the season of love, hope, and peace.

To ensure the safety of the ones we hold dear, we can’t let down our guards, 

even when we seem to be in the clear. 

We’re not there yet, but we will be soon enough.

If we all simply remember to do our part out of love. 

With the dawn of the new year just around the bend, 

Send tidings of thanks to the ones on whose bravery we depend 

on, more than ever. 

When this year closes, and all is said and done, we must hold on to hope, come 

2021.