Saturday was my first outing,
all masked up and nowhere
to go but the supermarket,
strolling with my basket,
calm and clean, with civilised
social distancing in wide aisles,
touching the inhaler in my pocket,
no panic, no fear,
husband always near.
The Sunday walk was leisurely,
a lot of heat but a little breezy,
on a dirt track between trees
and ochre stubbled fields.
Earth was feeling bountiful
and kind, but heaven was full
of angry clouds,
broiling in the blue,
vibrating from head to shoes.
Heads and sky were fit to burst.
We waited for the breeze to stir
the choleric clouds,
massage their bruises,
release the pressure.
But the rain didn’t come.
All we got was an electric hum
as the elements rubbed together
with an unfamiliar fury of weather.
Kim M. Russell, 3rd August 2020
My response to earthweal weekly challenge: Strange World
Strange world is the theme of this week’s challenge, and Brendan asks us what’s strange in our world / country / city / home / backyard / forest / ocean / head / heart today?
This morning it’s back to a clear sky, warm sun and breeze. No sign of cloud or storm, and the water in the rain butt is dwindling.
writing in north norfolk 
I like the way you bring it all together in the weather at the end.
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Thank you, Sarah.
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Yes, masking is strange –especailly in banks! I love the way you use the weather and your end is excellent:
All we got was an electric hum
as the elements rubbed together
with an unfamiliar fury of weather.
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Thanks Kim! I’m doing it step by step this week, rehearsing for my big trip to visit my daughter in Hampshire for five days.😊
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I hope your visit goes well. We live almost on the border of Hampshire.
Our youngest son came home when his Uni closed at Easter and he has been doing all our grocery shopping. He has to go back on 7th September — I may just set up home delivery. Although I have been into two small shops, I don’t fancy a supermarket.
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Thank you, Kim. We had trouble getting slots for home delivery, even though I was being shielded, so my husband continued shopping, taking all the right precautions. I’m not so brave.
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There’s a synergy between the strangeness of being out again, re-familiarizing with landscape and elements, and the strange weather, brooding with a potency which didn’t deliver on that day but is never far any more. – B
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It’s going to be even stranger next week. I’m going several hundred miles to stay with my daughter.
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I can feel the strangeness of being out under these new protocols, and the clouds above must have felt ominous……..stay safe on your travels. I am going to my sister’s at the end of the week for the first time in a long time. As we have both been self isolating, it will be safe. But truly nothing feels very safe any more. Your poem is wonderful.
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Thank you, Sherry. Safe travels to you, and have a wonderful time with your sister. I hope to see min in September, as long as there isn’t another lockdown.
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I still haven’t braved the supermarket–delivery is pretty easy to get here. I’m not sure when I’ll be ready. And the endlessly impending storms with the strange air pressure parallel all the rest of this chaotic world. (K)
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I couldn’t sleep last night. I have to drive the car for the first time in six months. It’s five miles to an appointment, but I’m on the verge of panic.
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I so understand that–good luck!
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Your poem presents an accurate reflection of these unsettling and unsettled times.
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Thank you, Suzanne.
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The tension of a hovering storm and the sense of constriction and unease of the walk pair perfectly. We have our human desire for order and safety seemingly surrounded by chaos, natural and unnatural here. A telling parallel.
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Wonderful! To me the calmness of the first stanza continues despite the storm. And that despite the contrast of inside and outside: I think it’s because of the waiting. “We waited for the breeze to stir
the choleric clouds,
massage their bruises,
release the pressure.
But the rain didn’t come.” I feel and welcome the electric. The second read made me think of the surface order of our society vs the storm simmering, the change to come. BRAVO.
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Many thanks, Susan!
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