It is the dawning of the age of the introverts...

[HowardM2]

So far, a series of pieces about the crisis we all are facing, examining various aspects of it.

"Airborne" -- This piece creates a clear sense of claustrophobia with simple details. Well done.

"Renovations" -- This one captures well the frustration of the situation.

"Things Fall Apart" -- The consequences of the situation and the consequent desire to escape into something more distant and elegant.

"In the Dark" -- The sense of not knowing, of being lost, but of at least accepting that there is something yet to hope for, even if not seen yet.

"Survival Guide" & "Strategy" -- Both evoke the need to hold on, no matter what.

It will be interesting to see what these pieces go.

[Emily Bronte]

Everyone who keeps coming by, and especially those making return visits--thank you so much!!!!!

Playing catch up on poems again, two going up now.

I've progressed my way through quite a few threads, still have more to get to over the weekend. I will catch up eventually.

[Emily Bronte]

Adjustment

The girl next to me says
she is jobless and homeless.
I ask if she has people to stay
with and get the usual non committal
yes. Rack my brains to think who is hiring--
Coles? Woolworths? Services Australia,
the rebranded Centrelink?
Welcome to your shitty new normal.
How may I help you?

[Emily Bronte]

Shelter in Place

There are still people out walking
but they hesitate to stop,
not wanting to be questioned
about where they are going and why.
Dog walkers are more serene---
" I have a reason to be out!"
and every now and then I get a grin
and a tail wag which brightens my day.
My Maltese loves the extra company
at home, and is happy to sit or nap with me.
Except when she scratches at my door--
"You're not getting out of walking me
this morning!" We are all animals now
learning to exist within the moment.

[AuntPunkin]

Really feeling that shelter in place right now. Great work!

AP

[Dunc]

Mari

In the Dark the gleam begins within ─ well, with any luck it does. You remind me of my deep breath relaxation technique too, priceless at such times.

Survival Guide ─ and remember that even if you get the virus, unless your health has already left you vulnerable you may very well get through it. Ebola it ain't.

Strategy ─ or you could open another bottle of wine, of course. Works for me.

Adjustment and doing it tough ─ indeed a lot of people directly under money pressure, most like never before. It's funny being a community while having to stand two metres apart, no?

Shelter in Place and the role of the dog. (As a dog person I sigh in a slightly superior way for the cat folk at this time.) All power to you and your Maltese.

Stay dogged!

Regards / Dunc

[new leaf]

One way to get through this is to write it out. I admire your tenacity in doing that. My gran taught us, "Don't dwell on it,", so my method is to concentrate on anything else in my mind, while going through the necessary motions. Each one copes as one can. Airborne was my favorite, longing embodied in the escaping birds.

[Gabrielle]

Hey,
'welcome to you shitty new normal' it's funny because it's true... and if you don't laugh, you will cry.
Shelter in place is very perceptive. I especially like the description of the dog walkers and your reaction.

Hang in there!

[romac1]

Interesting to see writer's ways of coping with the current reality - some avoiding anything to do with the virus, some going at everything very slant, and some - like yourself - trying to map it out almost as a reflective diary in poetry. All these approaches make a degree of sense. I did particularly empathise with the thought to "curl up forever in the space
between myself and the world." All the best - one third of the way through already.

[Emily Bronte]

AuntPunkin, Dunc, Malinda, Gabrielle, and romac--thanks so much. I'm going to try and get around to more threads tomorrow.

Catch up again, two poems going up now.

[Emily Bronte]

Liminal

There is a chasm between
already and not yet,
a thin silver rope
that glitters with rage
because the world teaches us
that what we are is not enough.
The gleam catches my eye again
and rage turns to laughter.
Already is always here,
within the not yet of every moment.

[Emily Bronte]

Travel Advice

The scene, for your entertainment,
ladies and gentlemen:
My father, stuck in the UK indefinitely,
without indefinite leave to remain.
My mother and I, phones to our ears,
trying to break the miles between us.
The windows are closing even as dad
runs for the tarmac. When I hear
he has landed in Sydney, my heart slows
for the first time in days and I finally sleep.
Have you been entertained? Why thank you.
All contributions in these uncertain times
are most welcome. Goodbye.

[Emily Bronte]

Easter Sunday

And [the women] went out quickly and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they anything to any man; for they were afraid. Mark 16:8

I seek stillness.
Not the eye of the storm,
or the deadly quiet just before it hits.
No, I want my self, my soul,
the thing, whatever it is that makes me
know what words to put upon the page
to be Shakespeare’s ever fixed mark
that looks on tempests and is never shaken.

Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow

Instead, another wave smacks me
Into the next day without asking
me what other plans I might have had.

For Thine is the Kingdom

I need to learn to surf.

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow

I am afraid, as the women
on the resurrection morning were afraid,
for they have taken my Lord away and I know not
where they have laid him.

Life is very long

I’m not used to taking one step forward
at a time without knowing where I am going.
I don’t trust the world.

Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow

Some days, trust feels like the blind
leading the blind, seeking someone
who can give you both directions.

For Thine is the Kingdom

For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the

way of all flesh, the knowledge
that all our lives are a process of letting go
of the things we thought we could control.

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

Amen.

[avalanche]

"Shitty new normal" is a standout to me.
"Easter Sunday' an interesting excursion, featuring Yeats I see...nicely caught.

Av

[Donner]

Hi, Mari,

"Shelter in Place" - I like how this starts out with an observation of motives between the people out walking and the people out walking their dogs (which I've seen more doing than I ever have; did dogs not get walked before? : ) and moves to N and her dog and how the different motives have brought us all to the same point.

"Travel Advice" - My cousin and her husband recently retired from working at a school in Ethiopia, planned before all of this happened, and they weren't sure if they were going to be able to get a flight out. But they did and made it home to their new home in NY, of all places, also planned before all this happened. So, these lines:

When I hear
he has landed in Sydney, my heart slows
for the first time in days and I finally sleep.

resonated.

"Easter Sunday" - Instead, another wave smacks me / Into the next day without asking / me what other plans I might have had. A very different Easter than I've experienced, but not so different from the women on that first Easter.

Donna