Jan Haag
(after W.S. Merwin)

You caregivers hand-holders hospice people, people who comfort
You cooks chefs servers sandwich makers pizza tossers, who feed us
You delivery people truck loaders postal workers sorters drivers, people who bring us things
You doctors nurses medical workers pharmacists front-line providers caretakers attendants, who risk all to care for us at our worst
You cashiers shelf-stockers grocery store workers bankers, who wait on us
You salespeople retail workers, who sell us what we need
You first responders EMTs police fire protectors security people, who protect and serve
You custodians janitors housekeepers, who clean up after us
You teachers principals counselors professors aides, who teach us now at a distance
You receptionists assistants go-fers, without whom so many could not do their jobs
You techies computer geniuses electronic fix-it folks, people who keep us connected
You farmworkers pulling crops from fields, you who pile those crops into pallets for truckers
You truckers who bring those pallets to distribution points; you unseen people who bring food
You who pick up our garbage recycling green waste, who dispose of our detritus
You mass transit workers who move us around on land on sea in sky
You Army Navy National Guard Coast Guard Air Force people, who give your lives for us
You linemen pole climbers petroleum workers dam workers, who deliver energy
You ministers priests rabbis nuns monks imams pujaris, people who remind us of the holy, the mystery of spirit
You instrumentalists singers dancers songwriters, people who bring music
You artists photographers painters sculptors movie makers ceramicists, who make images that lodge in our hearts
You writers poets journalists novelists memoirists authors broadcasters editors publishers bloggers communicators, who give us words that feed us, sustain us in times when we cannot touch or offer the comfort of a hug

All essential you, the essence of us

We see you. We are grateful.
We are saying thank you, the poet* wrote,
thank you in the waning light,
thank you as darkness falls.
We thank you as we wait for day
to break again.

*W.S. Merwin, “Thanks,” from Migration: New & Selected Poems (Copper Canyon Press, 2005)