‘Coffee Breaks’ are here to offer thoughts, pull strands of events together, acknowledge difficulties and celebrate good practice; a place to stop and think as you dip your biscuit into your cuppa. 
So, this week’s offering is a poem, written in response to this extraordinary world we find ourselves in, and shared by the author on Twitter in late April. I expect it will resonate with many readers as they navigate their way through each week of new challenges, setbacks, and achievements, whether personal or professional. 
We thank you all for the hard work you continue to do.

I heard that we are all in the same boat.
But it’s not that.
We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat.
Your ship can be shipwrecked and mine might not be.
Or vice versa.
For some, quarantine is optimal: a moment of reflection, or reconnection.
Easy in flip flops, with whisky or tea.
For others, this is a desperate crisis.
For others, it is facing loneliness.
For some, peace, rest time, vacation.
Yet for others, torture: How am I going to pay my bills?
…
So, friends, we are not in the same boat.
We are going through a time when our perceptions and needs are completely different. And each one will emerge, in his own way, from that storm.
It is very important to see beyond what is seen at first glance.
Not just looking, more than looking, seeing.
See beyond the political party, beyond biases, beyond the nose on your face. Do not judge the good life of the other, do not condemn the bad life of the other.
…
We are on different ships looking to survive.
Let everyone navigate their route with respect, empathy and responsibility. 
 

Damien Barr

(The poem is quite long, so sections of it have been quoted here.)