A to Z Writing Challenge - X for X

When I am holed up

In a tiny space

Without access

To a garden of my own

I love to walk

In parks

And along rivers

Underneath tall trees

After the cockatoos

Have finished feasting

And sprinkled 

All their dinner left overs

On the ground

I collect them together

And secrete them 

Around my home

And as I move

Through my days

They feel like

Tiny kisses of love

xxx

29/4/20 

A to Z Writing Challenge - W for Waiting

Who can identify

With the word 

‘Waiting’ right now?

Around the world

We are waiting

To see what is possible

If not probable

For this week 

And the next

Will we be able to drive

Or eat out

Or go to work?

Things we have 

Always taken for granted

All put on hold

But wait

What’s this?

A missive

From afar

Stating that life

Is already happening

While we are waiting!

Have we missed it?

Oh no!

Because this is our life

Like it or not

And as we yearn 

For something else

We have lost it

Wait no more.

28/4/20

A to Z Writing Challenge - V for Valiant

Here I sit

Late at night

Trying to find

Some words within

To fill a small poem

On the letter V

Only 5 days left

To finish our challenge

A to Z we said

And now regret

Our gung-ho commitment

At the start of the month

Champing at the bit

To have a go

And find some

Unusual poem topics

But now it feels

The well is dry

And all my ideas

Are about the virus

How many more poems

Can I write

About something

I really want to forget

But maybe once more

In our daily lives

And on the page

We will make a valiant effort

And carry on

27/4/20

A to Z Writing Challenge - U for Understand

In my life

I have found

People long

To be understood

To be seen and heard

By others

To feel their lives

Matter

And that they aren’t alone

In their big bad world

So now in this moment

Of world disintegration

And yet integration

We can turn

To each other

And be that which

We long for

By saying

I understand

25/4/20

A to Z Writing Challenge - T for Tiny

Covid-19

Has upended our lives

It seems all powerful

Throwing its weight around

Like a bully

And we are consumed

By the fear and changes

Around us

But maybe

To keep this all

In perspective

We can remember

It is just

A few strands of DNA

On an insignificant person

On a tiny planet

In a solar system

In the unfashionable end

Of the Milky Way

24/4/20

A to Z Writing Challenge - S for Schooling

Schooling

It's a funny thing

My kids have learnt things

I never expected

In this time of quaratine

I call it

Pandemic learning

For example

Before corona virus

I could never instill

Judicious use

Of toilet paper

And we would use

One roll in two days

-- I despaired --

But now

Threatened with shortage

We have made a pack

Last two months!

Nothing quite like

Panic schooling

And what have I learned?

I sure have upped

My handwashing game

And I've discovered

I can trust

My kids will be provided

With just the lessons

They need

For them to really understand

Deep learning

Is my favourite

23/4/20

A to Z Writing Challenge - R for Release

My morning yoga

Takes place

Under a tree

And I watch

As leaves release

Without fuss

From their branch

And float gently

To the ground

They have no prior experience

Of the ground

No notion

Of how much

It could hurt

But as they stare

Day after day

At their potential end

Do they cry and scream

And gnash their teeth?

No, they do their jobs

Helping the tree to grow

And then when it’s time

They let go.

How graceful

And poetic 

Their journey seems

And how we could learn

From them

To leave our current state

In a similarly elegant way

And simply

Move on.

22/4/20

A to Z Writing Challenge - Q for Q

This time of quarantine

Is full of queer and 

Questionable tasks

A quilt of moments

Cobbled together

Quirky ways of working

Quick errands

Only essential trips

Or is that quintessential?

And can I find 

A bit of quiet

Or a quantum of solace?

Well I quit!

21/4/20

A to Z Writing Challenge - P for Poetry

Ah, poetry

That paper or screen

Where I can dump

My muddled, muddied mind

And have it crystallise

Into form, structure and beauty

I can breathe a breath

And make my way

Into daylight

Feeling that life

Will be alright

20/4/20

A to Z Writing Challenge - O for Om

Sitting cross legged

On the sand dune

Contemplating

The universe

And this moment

I look up

To see people

Disobeying the rules

Walking their dog

On the wrong part

Of the beach

At the wrong time

Of day

My hackles rise

I judge

Then I catch myself

And talk myself down

Telling myself

To get my nose

Out of others' business

That everything is perfect

It's not my place to criticise

Maybe there is a reason

They need to be there

Just at that time

Or they didn't see the sign

I can only live my life

And leave them to theirs'

So I drop my gaze

Back to my navel

And chant

Om

18/4/20

A to Z Writing Challenge - N for Normal

Our lives have been 

In flux 

For all of this year

Even part of last year

As we decluttered

And renovated

And packed to move

Lived through the fires

And rented out our house

From underneath us

Moving ourselves

Into two caravan parks

In two cities

And commuting to meet

On the weekends

Somehow

The upheaval

That affected 

The rest of the world

Has meant that

We now live

In the same city

In the same caravan park

Even in the same house!

It just goes to show

How much

We had disrupted our lives

That a pandemic lockdown

Could stabilise it.

17/4/20

A to Z Writing Challenge - M for Moment

Every moment

Is a new morning

To paint across the sky

16/4/20

A to Z Writing Challenge - L for Life

Life

Today I feel 

Life has bowled me over

Tumbling

Like being dumped

By a wave I can’t see

And the air

I thought I could breathe

Is suddenly not there

—————

I am drowning

In circumstances 

Not of my own making

—  a dead car battery

A broken hot water service —

But also things

I use to distract

— working out my skin undertone

Or writing poems —

My body is so contracted

I can’t digest food properly

I have aches in old injury sites

From petrified muscles

Sleep is scarce

Or invaded

— this morning my neighbour 

Excavates a concrete slab

From my bedside —

Everywhere I go lately

There are people

In all my withdrawal places

My home is so tiny

And I am about to move

Into a tinier one

I feel squeezed

To the bone

Ah — Life!

15/4/20

A to Z Writing Challenge - K for Killing with Kindness

Lately it seems 

The world has been 

On a suicide mission 

Bent on taking itself out 

We have all been 

Consuming ourselves 

To death 

Racing around manically 

Chasing our tails 

For a touch more 

Perceived security 

Or just grand standing. 

Now we are stationary 

People are hovering 

In place 

Everyone homeschooling 

Putting in gardens 

Buying chickens 

Learning new ways of 

Making do 

Maybe this virus 

Sent to kill us 

Has managed to reshape 

Our world In a few short weeks 

Maybe all this will stay 

And we will say 

It was a kindness 

14/4/20

A to Z Writing Challenge - J for Joy

Joy

Why do we spend our days

Trying to live a good life

Being happy

Being peaceful

Learning about ourselves

And society

If we can’t draw

On that strength gained

And lessons learned

Now 

In time of war

It is now time

To dig deep

And find those strengths

Inside

The peace

The joy

The love

And spread them wide

Otherwise

Why?

12/4/20

A to Z Writing Challenge - I for I

I

That slim 

Vertical line

Represents

My person

My being

My soul

That scanty

Minimal stroke

Encapsulates

All

10/4/20

A to Z Writing Challenge - H for Happiness

Happiness is

My dog's face

After a swim

As she splashes

Her way to the shore

Spraying us with water

And slobber

Walking on the sand

A wave knocks me

Out of my

Stressful thoughts

And I laugh

Happiness is

Not dependant

On our circumstances

But on our thoughts

About them

Walking the beach

With my dog

Keeps my

Eye on that

Elemental moment

Tapping into

That basic happiness

Or base happy

We all hold true

At our core

9/4/20