Letter from Jenny
The Virus as I see it
Jenny Pearson 22/04/20
The dogs keep running
The cats keep purring
The flowers keep blooming
They know nothing of the officious
notices spoiling the park benches
They know nothing of the daily deaths
The children keep riding
The scooter and bike brigades
are herded ‘that distance’
away from all
That measurement that will
forever signal required separation
The virtual hug, the socially
distanced smile
Yet the rainbows keep coming
Their colours shine from windows
and pavements
The children keep laughing
The music keeps playing
There are some givens in this
uncertain world
The sun keeps rising
The sun keeps setting
The gardens are tidied
The jigsaws completed
The fences mended
The gates painted
How will it all appear
when we look back at this time?
The chalk gifts on driveways
in front of cleared out garages
The spring-cleaned homes
in the warmth of April
The blossom comes
The daffs go
The birds sing
The fledglings arrive
We will sit on the benches
in parks once more
We will be allowed to pause
To hear the burn flowing
The applause will fade
The rubber gloves will be removed
The masks will no longer cover
both smiles and tears
Our new heroes will go on
The buses will fill up
We will breathe differently
We will be less fearful
less wary
We will miss our community
or will we sustain our
precious connections?
The shared clapping
The lone pipers
The neon window signs
The classical music
The bells ringing
How will Thursday nights be?
How noticed will those delivery
drivers be?
How welcome will the Royal Mail
become?
How will the refuse collectors
be treated?
Will those with the initials
NHS on their uniforms
disappear from our conscious psyche?
Will we remember who to honour?
Will we thank those who we no
longer take for granted?
Will the video and artistic creativity
ebb away?
As the speed picks up
As the days fill in different ways
As we live on, beyond
the end of the rainbows
As the new beginning unfolds
As we reflect on what was,
What came to be and
Where they join
“Stay safe, stay well, stay home”
Where will they come to
belong?
In history or in the future?
In the past or in the now?
The before, the after
The hugs will feel new
The kisses like gold
The planet will wonder what might
have been
The dogs keep running
The cats keep purring
The flowers keep blooming
The butterflies will keep landing
The tadpoles will leave
The window-sill bears will
hibernate once more
The schools will reopen
to a grateful generation
The rainbows will
disappear from windows,
but never from the sky
Those of us who were spared
must carry “lest we forget”
forever within our souls
Our onward journey will
be different –
the route
the speed
the destination, the news
The meaning of “key”, the definition of “essential”
But the dogs will keep running
The cats will keep purring
The flowers will keep blooming.
What will we then come to miss?
Tags: From Audience