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Ryan May 2020
Covid-19,
this all seems like some dystopian dream.
The PM’s on TV,
saying he’s shutting down the country.

It’s like watching Sci-Fi,
protective equipment is in short supply,
we need to keep our distance,
there’s even been resistance to this.

People flocked to Cheltenham,
over 250,000 of ‘em.
The crowd was big at the Stereophonics gig,
Have a Nice Day,
critics say they should have stayed away.

No gatherings in parks,
panic sparks mass buying,
people are crying because they can’t get their medication.

Stay home,
some people are alone which limits the spread to other people,
but it’s probably not good for their mental health,
despite their wealth,
celebrities are just like you and me.

“Imagine all the people,”
okay, maybe not,
easier to isolate in a 200-acre estate,
behind a giant steel gate.

Two-weeks in quarantine,
nervous wait between infection and symptoms,
not enough testing machines to screen for this unseen virus,
most pull through which inspires us.
others don’t,
they were real people who fell ill,
not a number on a spreadsheet.

There was some negativity,
but people have the capacity to come together,
free taxi rides for NHS staff,
putting in the graft,
but they didn’t sign up for the draft.
They’re health professionals working to the bone,
staying away from home adds to the stress.

People reassess what it means to be important,
Key-workers,
not high earners but they still went to work to serve us,
when all this is done,
Remember that in years to come.

If the majority of your office work is done via computer,
you don’t have to be a commuter.
Work from home, no need to travel into town,
Zoom remotely in your dressing gown,
Microsoft Teams,
sending each other memes via Slack,
keeping it all on track,
maybe this could be permanent once life goes back?

Taking an online course,
attacking a new hobby with great force,
exercise, art supplies,
devise fun games with chalk on concrete,
liven up the street.

Rainbow pictures,
reading your scriptures,
video chat with your Nan in her flat,
shopping for your neighbour,
donating to food banks,
giving thanks.

This will pass,
the new normal will be different,
but we’ll be content because we won’t take things for granted,
hopefully.
Emotionally it’s been rough,
turn that frown around once it’s safe to leave Lockdown.
A beginner who is looking for some constructive feedback.
Dave Robertson May 2020
I broke a commandment
and sat in the garden mid-afternoon,
so technically on the clock

every other life around me
lived
had a purposed buzz
and flap-winged damns to give
while mine were elsewhere,
somewhere

not gone, I guess
just hidden in emails
and dumb-watching other people’s
screen creations
from the follow/subscribe sidelines

and the industry of beasts
leaves me in a shade-corner
shamed by a simplicity
that my chosen complications obfuscate
poorly
joel jokonia May 2020
Make someone's
Prayer
A reality
Give. Time. Food. An ear. Help out.
Dave Robertson May 2020
Sometimes there’s peace
in this restriction,
you get gifted a lucid
memory trail that you can wander
with a heart that sings back
to the echoes within

At other times it’s fibreglass
or vitriol under the skin,
prickle-burning every thought,
flaring angered embers
that refuse to chill

It’s a sickness
that infects our wishes
and snuffs the daily ebb and flow
of our earned minutes
as we yearn for the next high point
where we can
just
let
go

No escaping
this fickle, clumsy spectre,
just a recognition
that its patience wears as thin as ours
and it will pass
Jason Drury May 2020
Selfish are we,
as they breathe death.
Creeps undetected,
its gluttony is relentless.

Infected by narcissus,
obsessed with “want”.
Devoured and exhausted,
we perish when exposed.

Divided by masks,
one selfless,
the other selfish.
It's your choice.
Sohini May 2020
Looking up
With a heavy head
Thoughts wandering
Nowhere to settle.
The sun sets
The  crowded beaches
The snow covered mountains
Everything inspirational
Yet nothing to inspire.

The exhaustion
The frustration
Has dimmed the lights.
The eye seeks darkness
Even in the brightest of nights.

The dry eyes
The fake smiles
The wandering heads
Are yet to find themselves
In the lost crowd.
The rollercoaster
Inside the heart
Is yet to feel
All the emotions.

The heavy head
The wandering thoughts
The inspiration
The lights and the darkness
All's out there yet
Nowhere to go
Nowhere to be found.
I wrote this poem when I was overthinking and realised how everything is just out there but still nothing is in control.
Skyler May 2020
It's certainly harder,
To try and get by.
Speaking aloud with less ardour.

One hour into the next.
Time ticks by,
I begin to feel vexed.

The days are long,
the weeks are short,
I keep moving along

Determined to stay alive,
In these low moments,
Where I feel deprived.
This lockdown got to me a bit this week. For a moment it just felt like life as it is now isn't enough, being restricted to where we can go is hard but I can only keep moving on through.
This city is lost in the wilderness
Our Trappist souls to discover
Our billowing needs stripped down to less
A chance inwardly to recover.

Let us not lay waste this time to reflect
Let the sigh of the wind lift our thoughts
Let snippets of kindness expand and collect
Let us love, for our time here is short.
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