I don’t count the lockdown days anymore. What began as an enthusiastic rolling-up-of-sleeves-to-tackle-all-those-unfinished-projects battle cry…..has slowly morphed into large helpings of ice cream, huge chunks chocolate with lethal doses of Netflix!

I’m calling this the “Robinson Crusoe phase” of my “coping with Covid” strategy. Marooned in my living room, almost every aspect of life paused, social distancing, work stopped, and a stubborn crystal ball refusing to reveal the future- all make for a classic shipwreck.

My first task- before the panic set in -was to publish my haiku poetry book; a bittersweet moment- with death clinging tightly to my TV screen. The final 6 poems were all a reflection of the pandemic and the one poem still haunts me is this one :

just like Icarus

we now fall by the hundreds

like flies from the sky

Now, like Mr. Crusoe, I’m learning how to adapt. I’m cutting down on the ice cream, rationing Netflix, incorporating exercise (kind of), working on my next project and all in all, trying to give my day some structure.

The days are taking shape… and yet, some days are still harder than others, where mornings have to be wrestled into submission. But still, I  resist self-pity by thinking of all our heroes battling to keep us safe and those saving lives.

Yeah….. a sobering thought.

© Vivian Zems

Poets and Story Tellers

#lockdown moments