How fragile we are

For all those born beneath an angry star

Lest we forget how fragile we are.

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are
How fragile we are how fragile we are

Sting, Fragile

I am writing this well past 2 in the morning. I should be asleep, but after the anxiety and the fear and the dread of the past days, I have found a moment of clarity. 

We are so very fragile. The tiniest of things can undo us. 

There is a virus silently stalking the world. No one knows how many people it has already infected. No one knows how many of us will die. No one knows how to stop it. 

The whole world is in this same moment. Can you imagine? The entire world. 

And yet. . . and yet. . . 

Instead of finding empathy in our shared vulnerability, we see only shame. We think it is a weakness. And, in a sense it is. Vulnerability is power's kryptonite. Admitting we are vulnerable means we cannot cling to any imagined or constructed superiority. It means looking our systematic inequities in the eye and knowing they have no justification. They make no sense.

Because while wealth or privilege or position may make your quarantine more comfortable, may let you skip the line for tests or treatment, may let you hoard cleanser and food, none of it will take away our sheer, terrifying fragility against the unknown. 

So the only question that matters is what will you do with your fear?

---

Subscribe to BlueMusings and receive my short story collection, STRANGER WORLDS THAN THESE, as my gift.

Email        
First Name
Blue Musings is a low volume e-newsletter containing notifications about book releases, sales, recommendations, and free original short fiction. Please click the box, then "subscribe" to allow us to send it to you via email.