Making Sense of Pandemic through Poetry

Nearly a full year has gone by since my last blog post, with last month alone feeling like the passage of five years over the span of four short weeks.  It's hard to wrap my head around all the confusion and uncertainty, moreover the fear that accompanies the unknown.  I'm sure I'm not alone in my apprehension.

Still, the silver maple tree in my backyard has provided its yearly gift of sap which I boiled down into a litre of liquid amber deliciousness, and flocks of Canada geese honking overhead remind me that spring is arriving on schedule.  Yes.  Despite a heavy snowfall warning issued for the next 48 hours, and directives to stay indoors and practice social distancing, Mother Nature is slowly making her benevolence known to us here in Winnipeg, Manitoba with daytime highs now reaching into the high single digits.  (That's above freezing for those unfamiliar with the Metric system.)  Is it any wonder why we Manitobans pride ourselves on being the heartiest of Canada's prairie folk?

And while April showers are still likely to arrive in the form of snow, the arrival of Robert Lee Brewer's, "Poem a Day Challenge" on his Writer's Digest blog, "Poetic Asides" most definitely warms my heart.  I am especially grateful this year for the daily prompts, and hope to use this exercise in writing to help me process all that is going on in the world around me, as I safely watch from a distance of at least six feet.

In preparation of day one of the challenge, I composed this poem last night.


Prelude to a Poem

Perhaps, this time tomorrow brighter skies
will lift this dull and aching mood I feel. A dread,
uncertain in its form,
has stalked me for days to quarantine all
sense of my creativity.
Housebound.  I sit with thoughts and fears
shed long ago like skin.

Outside, the wind blows fresh and strong
against my cheekbones.
Looking up, the swollen maple buds
shimmer in bold promise to burst wide,
crack open a whole new reality.
The geese in harmonious V’s sail by in
spring formation.

Perhaps, this time tomorrow inspiration will return.