There is no way to write what is really in my mind tonight. I’ve tried – two deleted essays and a poem that won’t finish.
Poems have a life of their own. They only come out when they are ready. You can’t force them, just like you can’t force the expression feelings. Sometimes they come when called and sometimes unexpectedly.
I sit in my house watching a tectonic shift taking place in the world. Fear grips many, some see hope emerging, and some sew face masks. Heather sent 20 to the hospital today.
The question and the answer I want to give is elusive. It’s like a fly in the garden, there one moment and gone the next.
At my marquetry bench I slowly cut flowers into the background of a clock.
At the keyboard I wrestle with words.
In the kitchen I miss that there are mushrooms for the pizza.
Part of surviving these times is just doing as many normal things as possible.
Part of these times is how you face the world and the unknown.
I’d like to think I can face it with grace and courage.
Sadly, I often fall short and the poem remains a tangled mass of thread.
Andrew's View of the Week 
Amongst all the cloudiness, your point still came through loud and clear. Thanks
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Despite all, that was poetic.
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I re-read it. Guess it was more poetic than I thought.
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You’re one of those poets who doesn’t even knows it.
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🙂
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It sounds as though your poem is imitating life at the moment. All will straighten out eventually…
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I never remember if life imitates art or if art imitates life … I’m so confused.
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I know the feeling. I’ve got one on escaping covid nearly ready
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Not an easy thing to write about at the moment.
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All our minds are a mess right now. Hang in there.
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True – mine feels messier than normal. 😉
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This new reality harks back to my early days when I struggled to make ends meet, when I did without because I didn’t have the money. I always thought I’d get through it (ah, those crazy days of youth) and I still do. We’ll all adapt. What’s the alternative?
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It is the great narrative of life, “adapt or die.” Life requires adaptation.
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As many of us attempt to stay safe and flatten the curve, it is a new normal for us. Especially for those of us who have healthcare workers in our family. Our daughter is a nurse at a hospital with covid-19 patients. In order to protect us (her parents past age 60), she is not only self-isolating from us, but also our granddaughter (who we provide child care for while her mama works) is now living with us. That’s our new normal.
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That is the thing – new normal – what will that be in the long term.
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I’m leaving that up to God – He is the only one who knows. 🙂
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hope he tells us soon. 😉
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Take care of yourself and your family. Stay safe!
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We’re staying indoors as much as possible.
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Don’t worry. It will pass and things will get back to normal.
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That is the hope.
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The only palatable way to deal with this – I think – is resignation; to accept the cards as they are dealt. Be well, and stay safe, Andrew (it’s becoming a mantra now, isn’t it?).
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It’s the mantra of the day. I’ve always felt the best thing to do is to play the cards you have and not wish for a different hand.
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I can totally relate. So many of us are experiencing what you so beautifully have expressed.
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I expect many are feeling this way.
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Hello Andrew, I am seeing a lot of posts about creatives who are unable to write at the moment. I think it is an inability to focus as anxiety overlays everything like a glaze. It has not stopped me writing or creating, for which I am grateful. I am hoping this will pass and I will have finished my book and made good use of the time available to me as a result of this shut down.
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Anxiety is real. It affects creativity in many ways. When you’re in the middle of an event it’s often difficult to write about. With time and distance from the event it’s sometimes easier.
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YOu are quite right. My life doesn’t feel that different because I often work from home. It feels as if the boys are on holiday and I am doing my usual work from home stint.
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Exactly – I rarely work from home so this is very different for me.
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Many of us are facing this horrible pandemic with crippling fear. For some of us it destroys our creativity. Very sad state we are in.
Please take good care of yourself and your loved ones. This will pass.
Be well.
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Take care of you. My wife and I are doing well out here.
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I think I just read a great poem….
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Thank you for your kind words.
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