Spotty chin

I come home
and wearing a surgical mask for 12 hours
has left my chin all red and spotty. 

But, have you seen photos of ITU nurses during this pandemic?
red faced swollen selfies
no make-up
no pretence
just unfiltered 

staring down the lens
 "Please stay at home" 

they beg

 
filled to bursting blisters on the bridge of tender noses
tear-stained cheeks and pressure sores
their masks have created unnatural contours on their faces,

as if their mask has been sucked on 

or maybe applied with the force of someone who's lost patients 

lost colleagues 

to this hideous virus

I wonder, as they go home with these marks
as they lie down in their beds at night still feeling the mask on their face 

as a constant reminder 

What other marks do they carry? 

Are their souls indented too? 

with a nation's burden of grief and trauma 

And don't forget there's me with this pathetic outbreak of acne!
It's not heroic,
it's not newsworthy 

and yet I wonder, can this be what faithfulness looks like?

Sometimes it's heroic

but most of the time it's unremarkable 

it's unseen 

it's showing up

playing your part in a bigger picture

maybe not on the frontline, but close behind

keeping going.