The animals flourished as the humans shrank away.
Maybe some of the comebacks were exaggerated
– dolphins didn’t really swim in the Venice canals, did they? –
but the bears were free to roam in Yosemite,
species that had been declared extinct suddenly emerged again,
whales and dolphins could hear each other’s ocean songs.

At night the stars emerged brightly in a clear dark sky.

After all the sadness and sacrifice of the pandemic,
why do we hustle back to cruise lines and long commutes
when instead we ourselves could flourish
in a New Normal where
birds sing loudly with great joy and
we are there
to hear them.