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Listening to Lockdown
Wings of a passing bird
Creaking door
Breeze in trees
Radio in the house
Car passing by
By George Jarman
One Moon
One Moon
Seen by all. Seeing All.
One shining circle touching our hearts
With gentle reflection
In full moon glory
Empowering us to be real
To leave what is harmful
To live authentic, kind lives
One Virus
Known by all. Reaching out to all.
One replicating machine looking for hosts
With virulent infection
In full viral ferocity
Forcing us to be local
To leave what is superficial
To live creative, simple lives
One Planet
Touched by all. Supporting all.
One bountiful earth offering us home
With abundant beauty
In magnificent diversity
Inviting us to be frugal
To leave what is greedy
To live thankful, aware lives
By Yvonne Mcdermot
Stay safe for now
In my homeward sterile bubble of isolation
While unseen horrors ambush every continent, every country
Polluting the air with terror and disease
Robbing lives and normality by the day
Halting a helpless world
I am safe, frightened, but safe
Knowing those I care for are fed and still surviving
Daily reassurance through phone and Facebook to counter the bleakness on our screens
We are alive, unsuccessfully fooling ourselves into believing this is a strange holiday
To craft and garden and DIY
Exercise daily and watch TV
A million, billion Robinson Crusoes cut off in our suburban islands
Watching and laughing, watching and crying
We shut ourselves away from threat and community
And ritualistically wash our hands like a horde of atheist hermits
Lonely offering worship to the warrior medical deities
Who fight this limitless plague
Our weapons are thankfulness and positivity
Seeking for the countless microscopic blessings that scatter this paralysed earth
They are many
Fragments of the mundane that sprinkle our abnormal lives
As rife as the virus that holds us captive
The gleam of hope still remains
That one day this will be no more
That we will remain the ones pure of infection
And will once more, touch hands, work, kiss, embrace
And live
By Holly J Williams
6 April
Locked inside on a cruel blue day
the leaves of my luscious foliage plant
feast on the sunshine
blossom on the cherry tree
about to erupt
silence reigns
the virus roams
out there, somewhere
12 April
Bliss is the translucent blue sky
the achingly pink blossom of the
magnolia before me
a gentle breeze
wandering bird song
empty public spaces
a forgotten garden
overlooked by throngs
holed up in isolation
here is a community with nature
a carpet of daisies
daffodils past their best
hanging on grimly
the first leaves of the majestic oak
greet the warmth
with gratitude
and thanks for the Spring
By Duncan Taylor
Brookside Marriage – 02.04.20
Lord Alder & Lady Willow
Reaching across
Riparian zone
Woody fingers entwined
Beneath water
Giving harbour for aquatic creatures
Keeping the stream bank
Stable and still
Isolated we reach out
To others through underground cables
Anxieties and emotions shared
Situations connected
Across the world-wide-web
Realising we are all one
Giving thanks to real key people
Keeping each other safe
You protect me
I protect you
Chaste Moon & Alder now
Planter’s Moon & Willow next
Two odysseys for healing
For balance, for flow
For releasing emotions
To the music of the babbling brook
By Yvonne McDermot
Forgotten Armies
My Gramps, he fought in Burma, many years ago
The details of his wartime, I really do not know
He didn’t like to talk about what he did or he had seen
I can only guess what a struggle, what a burden that had been
My Gramps, he was a lucky one, he came home with his life
He got to spend his later years, with his family and his wife
Many others didn’t, they perished far away
They gave their lives for the freedom and rights we have today
The right to see our loved ones
To work and play and thrive
To have our children go to school
To simply be alive
But now our rights are put on hold
To fight a greater cause
To fight another battle
We have to stay in doors
Our enemy, it can’t be seen
But we know its everywhere
It attacks all creeds and nations
Contaminating air
It kills without a second thought
Through a handshake, hug or kiss
I do not think my Gramps would have
Fought a foe like this
You cannot shoot it with a gun
Or spear with bayonet
Our weapon will be a medicine
But they haven’t found one yet
My Gramps and others fought a war
And we must fight one now
Though I’m feeling pretty helpless
And really not sure how
But I can hope and I can pray
And I can stay indoors
And every Thursday, 8 o’clock
Give the NHS applause
And I can chat and shop online
And type and use a pen
And take note of that ancient song
That says we’ll meet again
By Holly J Williams