COVID-19 poetry

Well - during the isolation time, I began thinking about some books I’ve read, some feelings I’ve had, and the murals on the wall of the learning commons that I work in. Here are two examples of drafts written this month.

Poe’s Heart

I’m like a canvas without the paint

Like a story without a plot

I’m a beach without the breeze

Like Poe without the beating heart.

I’m like a compass without an arrow

Like a map without a key

It’s like humming without a melody

Like a prisoner who is never freed

Mysteries without a clue

Friendship but never love

Dreams but never rest

A job that’s never done

I’m like a horse without a rider

An airplane without the sky

I see each day without a purpose

Another day without a why ..

Awake but in a coma

Alive but wondering why

Thinking but never knowing

Still too scared to try

One day I’m here

The next day I’m gone

I feel I’m present - but

In the absence

Of something worthy

I’m just something wrong

May 2, 2020

**

Hosea’s Curse

What did I know when the road began

I was a fool - couldn’t understand

But the tornado hit and I went off course

My heart was full - but the love fell short

I wasn’t looking but there you were

With a life of beauty - I was so sure

The path was straight - was gold - was smooth

But - Your love for me was never true

I fell in fast. It felt so right.

I gave my all. I gave my life.

Your heart it wandered. It wasn’t true

I gave all the love I had to you.

I kept trying as you walked away

You spent my love but you didn’t stay

You beat me down and mocked my pain

But I gave you more and more again.

My life is sad my days are done

I’d like to resurrect when I was young

You stab my back but the blood is gone

My heart has long since turned to stone.

I have known the truth of who you’ve been

What you plan for fools like me

You drain me dry and hopes fall dim

It’s sad but I think I own your sin

The road was gold the path seems clear

I followed it quickly without fear

The truth is hard as the black moon rose

It seems that Oz has no royal clothes

May 4, 2020

Lots here. Yellow brick road and Oz the great and powerful. The infatuation of youthful dreams and the pursuit of significance. The metaphor of the dreams as it relates to Hosea’s story. The lost life of chasing a false love.