Oh, the Places You Can’t Go!

A message to the Class of 2020

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You can’t go many places,

But you will… someday.

You have soap on your hands,

And a mask on your face.

But you have been banned

From almost every place.

Now you are grown. And you know what you know,

But others decide where it is you can go.

You can’t go to restaurants,

Or shops—they’re all closed.

And don’t try the bars,



‘Cause they closed all of those.

You can’t go to work,

Or to church, or to school.

You can go to the store,

‘Til they change that rule...

You can’t graduate,

Or go to your prom.

You’ll just have to stay home,

And dance with your mom...

Your wedding is cancelled, and may be awhile

but you can still walk down the grocery aisle.

You can’t go to a park or restaurant or bar

But you can get takeout and eat in your car...

You will come to a place nobody now goes.

Some stores are open. But mostly they’re closed.

A place they could trim both your hair and your nails.

Are they too small to survive? Or too big to fail?

We’ll know, when the government hands out their bail...

You might get so scared,

You decide to stay home.

With nothing else but your own house to roam.

Too afraid to see anyone else face-to-face,

You may find yourself in a most frightful place—


The Waiting Place…

…where everyone is just waiting.

For a check to come, or this thing to end

Or the mail to come, or the curve to bend

Waiting for their hair to grow,

Or their nails to be done

Or their roots to show

Everyone is just waiting...

NO! That’s not for you!

Somehow you’ll escape

all that sitting and staying.

Where GrubHub delivers,

and Netflix is playing.

Where people do anything

To pass away time.

Scrolling through Facebook,

And Amazon Prime.

No, that’s not the somebody

You want to be.

On the couch in your house,

Just watching TV.

You’ll get off your couch,

And you’ll go for a walk

Stop by your neighbor’s,

And hang for a talk.

And while you are there,

you may talk heart-to-heart.

(As long as you stay at least six feet apart.)...

So when you go out,

Go with care on your way,

And remember that this

Will all pass someday.

Don’t be afraid. You can still make great plans.

Don’t fret life’s delay. The world understands.

Just never forget to wash off your hands...

Via the Wall Street Journal