Congratulations! We made it through April–all 10,000 weeks of it!
culture
Pandemic Poetry: Poem of the Day, 20 April 2020
Today our government makes a difficult decision–whether to lift some of our restrictions, or keep us in lockdown for another few weeks. It is not a task I’d wish on anyone, because each option comes with significant costs. What I trust, though, is that they will keep in the back of their minds the Māori saying: He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata. What is the most important thing in the world? The people, the people, the people.
For readers unfamiliar with Te Reo Māori, he tāngata means the people, and tamariki are children.
Pandemic Poetry: Poem of the Day, 16 April 2020
Another day of virtual school. How strange it all feels. I hope you’re all staying safe and healthy and keeping busy in your bubbles. Kia kaha!
Pandemic Poetry: Poem of the Day, 14 April 2020
It’s a crisp cold morning, inside and out. We’re beginning to really look forward to living in a house again some day.
But working in the garden is warm work, and we’ve been doing a fair bit of it–the blank canvas of the new property is starting to fill in.
And I’m still quite enjoying the laughter and smiles as people stop by to read the daily poem. So many other lovely things have been happening around the community, too–Easter eggs in windows and hanging from tree branches and fences, encouraging messages and jokes written in chalk on the sidewalk, rocks painted with good wishes tucked in the grass where walkers will see them. We may be physically distant, but folks have definitely come together as a community to pull through this. Kia kaha everyone!
Pandemic Poetry: Poem of the Day, 11 April 2020
In for the long haul now, everyone!
This poem is long enough, I’ll type it out for you, since I’m not sure you can read it on the photo.
We’ve got the lockdown blues
The lockdown blues
Ain’t no point in even puttin’ on shoes.
Can’t go out,
Can’t stay in,
Tired of hangin’ out with your kin.
Don’t know the day,
Don’t know the hour.
When was the last time I bothered to shower?
We’re tired of devices,
Sick of our screens.
We’re all so bored
We’re moping like teens.
We’ve learnt to bake bread,
Knit and crochet.
A walk round the block
We do twice a day.
We’ve got the lockdown blues
The lockdown blues.
Ain’t no point in even puttin’ on shoes.
Pandemic Poetry: Poem of the Day, 3 April 2020
Another foggy damp morning here. The light from streetlights and spilling out of people’s windows looks solid in the fog.
Pandemic Poetry: Poem of the Day, 2 April 2020
I’ve heard a number of women on social media fretting over how to get their hair coloured during lockdown. I’m afraid I can’t really relate, as I don’t colour my hair, and view my grey the way I imagine a silverback gorilla does. But it inspired today’s poem.
Pandemic Poetry: Poem of the Day, 31 March 2020
Yesterday was Monday, and normally I would have written my weekly blog post at the cafe next to work in the hour before I start. Obviously, that didn’t happen, on the fifth day of our national lockdown.
But as I pledged to do last week, I’m focusing on the positive. My pandemic poetry, bad as it is, has caught the eye of the neighbours who walk past on their daily outings.
“Mum! There’s another one!” a little girl shouted yesterday.
Mum took it as an opportunity for some homeschooling, having her child sound out the tricky word pandemic.
So the poems are doing exactly what I’d hoped, giving at least a few people something novel and upbeat to discover every day. Easing the strain of our forced solitude, and maybe even eliciting a chuckle now and then.
And when this is over and we can actually go and meet our new neighbours, we’ll have a way to break the ice. I can hear it now …
“Oh, you’re the ones with the poems on the fence!”
Pandemic Poetry: Poem of the Day, 28 March
Our first weekend in isolation. We’re treating it as an actual weekend, doing work around the property, rather than our jobs and school. Taking comfort in a semblance of routine.
Pandemic Poetry: Poem of the Day, 26 March 2020
I’m starting a project today (day 1 of our national lockdown): writing a poem a day. Light, sometimes silly, sometimes thoughtful, and always with the aim to lift spirits. In the spirit of my own crazy living situation, I’m writing the poems on scraps of building paper the builders have left behind and posting them on the builders’ fence for our many dog-walking neighbours to enjoy. I’ll also be posting them here, on FaceBook and Twitter.
Stay safe everyone. Wash your hands, keep your distance, and be kind to everyone.
Robinne Weiss 