When You Asked Me Why There Was a Framed Picture of a Tree Propped Against a Tree

I had no answer, but when I got home that night

I saw the article about medical workers wearing

pictures of themselves smiling to comfort COVID-19

patients—We’re here to take care of you! handwritten

across masking tape, placed upon their scrubs.

How strange a world of hidden faces, goggles,

plastic masks, but the photos a reminder, kindness

underneath. At the hospital someone said,

Not all heroes wear capes, some wear stethoscopes. Outside,

the parks were empty in the tired light

of noon, and through this spring of trauma, every

tulip, every plum tree, fully in bloom.

By Melissa Studdard & Kelli Russell Agodon

#keyworkers #nature