What is this time for

We are told to stay
Be still and desist
From gatherings
Either we are
Isolates
Without the
Mirror
Of others
To remind
Us who we are
Or households 
For the duration
Holding each others’
Lives in our hands

 

Either we are separated
Unable to visit
Loved ones or we
See others
Far more 
Far longer in lockdown
Than usual
Waiting it out

 

The drip of a pipette
News feeds us
With horrifying 
Stories and statistics 
The work of a 
Deadly virus
Unpredictable
Unknown 
Vicious 
We wait it out

 

We are not safe
To be close to 
Others but 
We are social animals
This is our deprivation
No vaccine for ages
It goes on we
Wait it out

 

We have to 
Bear the constraints
Work around and 
Adapt to our
New realities

 

Furlough
Virtual contact
Zoom 
We do some of our
Usual things
That way
What a facility!
Relieving not
To travel but
Its just not the same
Not to be together
We protest!
For some 
The adaptation
Is too much
They withdraw
Even more
We wait it out

 

We feel blessed
To be well and
Perturbed
Helpless like
Frightened rabbits
About the 
Fate of 
Others we
Wait it out

 

The planes stop
Traffic is less
And our 
Environment
Gloriously
Bedecked in 
Spring has 
Never looked
Better
We wait it out

 

We fear for the earth
All this caused by us
We fear for the vulnerable
Without space to
Isolate to exercise
Those in whom
This virus 
Will find little
Resistance
We wait it out

 

Everyday like
A snow day
We stop
We have time
We clean out
Drawers
We feed our
Gardens
Who thrive
With our
Attention
We wait it out

 

We want to 
Help we
Volunteer
We reach out
We find tendrils
Of care that
Creatively
Spring up
We find ways
To serve
We wait it out

 

Is our everyday
Snow day
A chance to 
Experience in
Less is more
Relief in 
A simpler
Life where 
We rediscover
Our humanity
In caring
For the earth
For each other?

 

Philippa Smethurst is a psychotherapist with a specialism in trauma. She also enjoys poetry and finds it immensely helpful in understanding the world and capturing a moment.