It used to be a rare thing
to be lost for words
but here I am grasping
for synonyms that have slipped
down
the
rabbit
hole.
I used to write every day
but, lately,
the air does not move around me.
It’s windy outside,
the sun has turned its back on us,
and the trees
are having a windy illegal rave,
like the socially starved millennials
who think the pandemic is a hoax –
more fool them!
Who will they blame when they are silently squeezed of their last words?
Kim M. Russell, 30th June 2020
My response to earthweal weekly challenge: A Sufficient Poetry
Brendan says that in an age of blossoming danger, bewilderment and uneven realities, novel news comes at us fast, and he wonders how one writes encompassing poems of such things. He compares nurses’ lack of resources with those of poets and the way poetry is grappling with the pandemic.
For this week’s challenge, Brendan would like us to write about the challenges we face as poets trying to write sufficiently to the moment. What is most difficult to capture about the time? What new tools or calibrations might be required?
writing in north norfolk 
Very true Kim. The poem expresses it so well. But I truly do wonder about these people who think the pandemic is a hoax. There seem to be so many of them about.
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They must be in denial.
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I know and I don’t understand it. There is plenty of evidence. Oh well…. makes you wonder a bit though!
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I was just reading about a college fraternity in Florida who thought it was a joke when they all tested positive for the virus. What words are there for behavior like this? No, we have not taught our children well.
But your words do shine light, even if it does not seem that way to you. (K)
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Thanks Kerfe.
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I like the light hearted tone here even though the matters you write are deadly serious. Language and the way we communicate does seem to be deconstructng for a lot of us right now. Those people who think the virus is a hoax are here too. Who knows what will happen next but it doesn’t look good!
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Thank you, Suzanne, Recently I’ve been rendered speechless.
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I can relate. My last two posts have felt like a last hoorah for me re blogging at present. I think I’ll take a break for a bit.
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A very moving poem, Kim. I also feel like “the air does not move around me” these days…
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Thank you, Mireia. Everything is standing still.
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I hear you. It is hard to write lyrically while we are watching so much craziness. I fumble for words, or just go quiet. Yet we still try to put them together because that is what we do.
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So true, Sherry.
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I’ve been having such a hard time concentrating lately. But as for the people who think it’s a hoax or in denial about it–I just don’t understand. I guess the young people just think they’re invincible–just like when they sign up to be soldiers–but the older people? Here it’s the people who still believe the guy in the White House.
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I admit it’s been espresso me and I didn’t feel like writing at all for a few days. This prompt has given me a little kick up the backside.
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“espresso me?”
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It should say ‘depressing me’ but the Kindle gremlins struck again!😊
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Oh! I thought it had something to do with you drinking espresso, and I was confused. 🤣
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espresso Kim is pretty scary. Capuccino Kim is much more mellow.
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I never touch espresso – my head would explode!
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giggles
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Who indeed. Now they party like its 2020 going on 2099. This is an interesting heft for you — off your grid, raw, more vulnerable and exposed. What is it like to be becalmed when the wind rushes all about outsdie? The title is wonderful — says so much for the maskless legions here in cankered Florida. Great job Kim. – Brendan
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Cheers Brendan.
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I haven’t been to a poetry reading for a while…
but when I did, the poems I always secretly dreaded were the ones introduced by: “I wrote this poem today, inspired by this thing I heard on the news”. I don’t know if poetry is the thing to use to communicate an immediate response. I think it’s better when things have fermented in the depths for a bit. So I completely understand those times when the wind moves outside but doesn’t touch us. You’re a poet even when you’re not writing poetry.
Having said all that, you give us a snapshot of the confusion a lot of us are feeling. There’s still a pandemic, people!
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Thank you, Sarah. Recently, the whole situation made me depressed, and I’ve had several days when I struggled to write or even to find words. And yes, people are the current pandemic!
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Odd times, Kim. AS your poem expresses, we have entered some kind of weird interim phase where half the population is in denial…JIM
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I keep hoping I’m going to wake up and it’s all been a nightmare.
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