Elegy to 2020

Days lingered around
Gathered friends, family, rivals,
In groups, maybe thousands
Enjoying sport, music, spectacle,
Ceremony, exposition, oratory,
No worries, shared delight.
How we celebrated things
That brought us peace, smiles,
Companionship, competition,
We were golden, glitter bright
Stars feeling our fortune, filling
Time with all the joy we might.
But
Sometimes our privilege dies
A sudden horrible death
Which consequence we fail
To see in its full gory detail
Until it wraps itself around
Us, a constriction unwilling
To allow us any escape,
Nor let us go, it binds like
A straightjacket, unwanted.
Our homes, always sanctuaries,
Begin that slow movement
Toward a joint solitary confinement
Where nerves are nettled, become
Frayed, days without normal
Occupation become a distance
Difficult to travel hours through.
Now,
For ever-how long, it appears
The culture of the modern world
Has died an ungentle death
Beaten into submission by a virus,
Even more by fear, horror, panic
Of what might happen should
We linger together in the open
In shared embraces and friendly
Touches that communicate more
Than words, our empathy, and care.
Make no mistake, love is not mocked,
It will return us to ourselves for
Through everything it always
Finds a way, I believe love exists
To be our guide when things go gray.

This is not meant to be dire. The prompt on Poetic Asides today is Elegy, and I think the world will be different when it resumes business as usual.

I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying your weekend. I have been forced to stay off my feet quite a lot today because of my left foot, but I am trying to be up a bit.

As a prompt, explore your vision of what will occur when all the confinements are ended. Create something that expresses your vision.

Audacious

What I want to say
Does a speedy estimate
Of words I contain
Before deciding it is
Safe to brave so much fresh air.

There is a beauty
In the newly bestowed clear
Space – nothing hurries;
The birds are better at home,
Exhaust is missing rush hour.

I walk breathing deep
Though pollution is absent
Pollen soldiers on
Running my nose, forcing these
Sneezes and coughs troubling me.

A calm filters down
A peace often dearly missed,
Acceptance descends –
A careful celebration,
Renewed clarity, fresh air.

The prompt today for Prompted Positive Poetry’s Facebook Group was “fresh air.”

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

I never imagined
We would live in
A time of plague,
But as I think
It would seem life
Has prepared me.

I learned as a wee
Little one in my
Illustrated Holy Bible
The fate of the Egyptians
Who in the Old Testament
Chose to stand against God.

I often read Edgar’s,
“Masque of the Red Death,”
And a few times I braved
Stephen’s apocalyptic masterwork,
The Stand which invaded
My dreams with fear.

Various articles on 1918
With their focus on
The failure of the grid,
Were supremely worrying,
Then more recently
Chuck’s terrifying Wanderers.

When the first news broke
In the New York Times
That the Coronavirus was
Fast-moving in China
Something clutched at me
And I became concerned.

As it spread further
Taking a tenacious hold
Worry invaded, and with
Each report of increased transmission
Fear escalated until a panic
Began to set in, spooking me.

I gathered my nerves
Convinced God is in Control
Knowing isolation is my lifestyle
Finding some peace that time
Is easy to occupy when creative
Hoping and praying as life goes on.

This was written about 4am after watching Netflix on the tablet in bed. I should have put it up earlier, but I was not sure how I felt about it. I try to focus on positive things, but I think there must be some use for poetic comment on the times.