Altruism

Commercials assure the quarantined

that “we’re all in this together”,

glaringly and grossly neglecting to mention

that we almost never act like it, normally,

hence the current need for reminders

constant and explicit, broadcasted round-the-clock.

Our usual behavior aside, it’s still true,

but only up to a point; equally true,

the self-interested determine to what degree

cooperation and collaboration prevails,

to what extent selflessness overrides its rival.

Absent individuality, we’re indistinguishable

cogs amidst the vast collective, desperate for identity;

absent unity, we’re little better than discrete fingers

dumb to the potential of a fist.

Revel freely in the twist: self-isolation engenders

cohesion, proving unitive in a manner

commensality hardly could.

Quaint though it is how we circle the wagons

in hours of shared need, the deed’s seldomness unsettles;

empathy’s infrequency irks and rankles starkly,

for momentary mutuality belies norms and mores,

revealing how the world always might and ought be.

Downtime under lockdown is prime time

for introspection, an unprecedented opportunity

to privately shrive ourselves, to mend bonds

unnoticed albeit ever-present, delicate ligaments

undergirding everyday life, and with renewed urgency

braid threads of mercy.