A Day in the Life of Liz: 6 April 2020

I have invited people, via Twitter, to contribute to the section of the Virtual Tea Towel Museum called ‘We’re all this together’.  Some have written a daily diary, some just one-off pieces.  Liz, as someone who writes a lot of poetry, gave me this today; today was her first day out of the house since ‘Lockdown’ in order to collect medication.  The chemist was shut.

“I had been mulling over some parts of this poem since coronavirus hit. I was very moved by the stark image from Barbara’s cousin in Italy, where he described his street looking like a still life painting. Later, he sent an image of a dog who was being offered, for a price, as an opportunity to take a walk.

Today we drove to Boots to collect our medication. As Barbara went to check why it wasn’t open, I was transfixed by the winding queue running from the local post office. And my poem came together …

                                                                COVID-19

The street a study of still life
Only dead leaves murmur as
Flies forage frantic for fodder
Unique in its elusiveness.

A weary dog sits relieved
Between walks priced 20 Euros
Snapped up by the desperate,
A sad sign hung to his neck.

I watch the polite, 2 metres apart
Queue of people posting parcels
No one speaks, shares the story
Of forbidden family and friends.

There is applause on the street
On Thursday evenings, Lloyd
Webber’s Shows Must Go On,
Quizzes with folks I’ve never met.

Sadness, grief, anger, desolation
Pattern my mind and my soul
As I wonder if she’s right, the
Queen who says “we’ll meet again”.

©️ Liz MacKenzie”

Thank you Liz for an insightful poem and for the fact that you have been reading ‘We’re all in this together’.  The tea towel is in recognition of the Queen’s Address to the Nation last night which you have referred to, a Diamond Jubilee Tea Towel.