Meanwhile

A boy feels the sting of classmates’ slurs in the icy playground air
meanwhile,
his grandma hums an old folk song as she stirs a pot of stew

A young woman studies for her ACTs, hoping to get into college
meanwhile,
her mother’s feet burn through the second shift as she serves with a smile at the diner

An ICE agent steals from a makeshift memorial a rose meant for a murdered young mother
meanwhile,
a florist tucks a peace lily into a bouquet for his daughter’s wedding

Wildfires rage, floods cause mudslides, droughts lead to famine
meanwhile,
a farmer tills the earth, turning the soil for seeds stored from last year’s harvest

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This poem was inspired by Phyllis Cole-Dai’s poem Meanwhile.

The graphic is a painting, Ploegende boer (Plowing farmer) in the Dutch Art Museum, Rijksmuseum. It has been painted by many artists since the 1800s. I found this public domain painting through Unsplash.