How are you coping with the pandemic? Most of us give a politely positive response to such a query. It is hard to admit to doubts and fears, so we generally mask our emotions just as tightly as we mask our noses and mouths.
I was in a contemplative, almost poetic mood yesterday as I was walking about in nature with my camera and played around with these words. If you had seen me, you would have noticed me mumbling to myself. (I decided to illustrate my thoughts with a masked bird, an immature Cedar Waxing (Bombycilla cedrorum) that I photographed in early November.) I’m not a poet, but here is where I ended up. (NOTE: The formatting may be messed up in the WordPress Reader, but is correct if you click through to the blog itself.)
A Masked Response
“I’m fine,” you reply
wearing a mask.
But are you really?
Have you been tending
to your mental well-being
or merely pretending?
Is your pretense
in the past tense
or are you still tense
in the present?
Take care, my friend,
I care.
Throughout this year I have been entertained, intrigued, and inspired by a whole group of real poets, primarily but not exclusively from the United Kingdom and Ireland, who have helped me to maintain my emotional well-being. Two of them, Karen Mooney and Gaynor Kane, recently published a short collection of poems, entitled Penned In, in which they responded to the impact of the pandemic on society and everyday life. It is an amazing work by two wonderful ladies. If you want to know more about the collection or would like to order your own copy, click on the title above.
Here is a link to a video version of one of Karen’s poems in the collection entitled “We’re All In This Together.”
Here is a link to a video version of one of Gaynor’s poems in the collection entitled “Learning BSL During Lockdown.”
Let me conclude with a stanza from one of the poems in their collection entitled “Stilling the World.”
“But think of the cost if you don’t stay home.
You’re not alone, we’re in this together,
won’t be forever, but some will never…”
Stay safe and healthy as we all prepare to begin a new year.
Michael Q. Powell.
Mike Powell 
Mike I do believe once you have poemed you are indeed a poet. There is no walking away from it. You can take off the mask. And yes it has been way too interesting a year dealing with this madness. It is well spent time upon your rhyme. And it is going to take us all a long time to sort out if we think we are coping or to know that we are really coping. Thanks
Oh, no. I did not realize that poem-writing was so contagious. Seriously, though, I think it is like most artistic endeavors in the sense that amateurs can dabble in it for their own enjoyment without any of the constraints that “professionals” may fee,
True enough. Though the real professionals know when , remember when to let go of the rules of constraint.
Thank you for link to what looks like a good January 2021 read – level setting – alternative to social media!!
I wandered into poetry mid life and it’s now my practice – out in nature is a frequent instigator!
LOVE your photos & posts – looking forward to lots more to come!
You should write more poetry Mike! I enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing! And I hope you stay safe as well as we enter into 2021!!
Things are not great here in my part of the UK (or most parts to be honest). Being winter does not help either as i detest this season. I’m looking for a glimmer of hope on the horizon, a chance to see my daughter in a foreign land, but it’s not glimmering……yet.
I read poetry and wish words came to me in such a way. I KwYs like your birds, but this, too, is a lovely post.
Thanks, Lulu.
I like your poem Mike and I’d be willing to bet that more will come.
I always carry a small pocket notebook because you just never know when flashes will come to you.
In fact I think as many of my blog posts have been written in the woods as here at home.
I think I will take your advice, Allen, about carrying a notebook. I ended up scribbling down what I had composed as soon as I got back to my car in the parking lot, fearing that I might forget the words during my drive home.
That’s how it happens! It’s amazing how many blog posts will “write themselves.”
I like how your creativity has decided to bust out into other areas, Mike. We’ve seen you paint and poem. I like this post. it is important to ask these questions, to consider the larger picture. Nicely done.
Thanks, Dan. I love to play with words, so it is not as big a stretch for me to try to be creative with poetry as it is for me with painting. During the winter months I hope to pick up my paintbrushes again–they have been gathering dust for several months.
Nicely done.
Thanks, Rebecca.
Great poetry, but I’m affraid there’s no poet hidden in me 🙂
Thanks. As for a hidden poet in you, only you can know for sure–circumstances could change and reveal what is currently invisible. 🙂
I love the word play in your poem, Mike. As for myself, I feel emotionally and mentally healthy. But I live with my husband and daughter, so there are plenty of opportunities for touching and hugs and maskless interaction. We have money, food, books, internet, TV, radio… everything we could ask for. I look out from this bubble of safety and warmth at the millions who are suffering, starving, dying. Why is life so unfair? I did nothing to deserve this.
I was intrigued by the accents of Karen Mooney and Gaynor Kane. Do you happen to know where they are from? You mentioned Ireland and the UK. Anything more specific?
I hope we can meet sometime in the New Year.
I know that Gaynor is from Belfast, Northern Ireland and believe that Karen is also from Northern Ireland. The poet I am most familiar with is Damien B. Donnelly, an Irish poet living just outside Dublin. I met him in Paris in November 2019. You can read his poetry at https://deuxiemepeaupoetry.com/ and eatthestorms.com. You correctly noted, Nina, that my “poem” was more about word plays than lyrics. I live by myself, but have that same sense of unfairness that you mentioned, what I tend to think of as “survivor’s guilt.” Many are suffering, but essentially I am not–it really is not fair. I am cautiously optimistic about 2021. An in-person meeting would be awesome. Best wishes for a safe and happy new year.
It’s nice to capture thoughts and reflections in different ways and as they come to you. So we’ll done on penning this poem, Mike, and sharing it. I often catch thoughts on my phone or notebook to use later in a post, but I haven’t tried putting these into a poem. May be I should…
I know that some people capture ideas by recording them on the phone, but I am a bit old fashioned in preferring to write them down. During this year I have started using a fountain pen and that makes writing a little more fun. As for poetry, I have found that I like to express myself in words as much as in my photos–sometimes my photos are merely excuses to talk about something, sometimes a little lyrically, but not what I would call “poetry.” It’s fun to dabble with new ways of expressing myself, even when the results are not “professional” or even necessarily “pleasing.” If you feel the urge to express yourself in a poem–go for it, Chris. 🙂
Tending or pretending? What an eloquent insight. Language has a music of its own.
Thanks, Gary. I am pretty sure that you have noticed that I like to play with words. I am not sure that my writing qualified as “poetry.” It was more like philosophical musings.
Thanks for the lovely post, Mike!
Thanks, Elizabeth. I recently was at a Zoom meeting for the launch of another wonderful book of pandemic poetry called The Kitchen Sink Chronicles by Adele Cordner. (You can find her at https://www.adelecordner.com/ )
I love the masked bird with the words. Very good expression of your feelings! And the tail feathers lend hope!
Yes 2020 was indeed a hard year
And 2021 will probably be pretty hard too.
No please not
[…] 2020 when I felt prompted by the pandemic to write a poem myself. I included it in a posting called Pandemic Poetry that also looked at a powerful collection of pandemic poetry by Gaynor Kane and Karen Mooney. One […]