CURFEW

New task: to write a poem a day under Melbourne curfew 2020.

DAY 1 – Aug 3

fewer curs

that’s what’s needed

in these new

cursed lockdown

curfew days

fewer whining dogs, please

skulking

emptied vacant streets

in search of sniff of

rat

crossbreeds barking

me me me

and who’s to blame

what about us

is the question

we must ask

and bite down hard

on that cold bone

of emptiness

and loss

and unmourned dead

and wedding dresses never worn

and babies born into uncertainty

(as were we all

but not like this

no hug no kiss)

we curse the few who disagree

who will not see

that everything we knew

and understood

is changed and gone forever

by this new

this me and you

who must needs be

in this together

but six masked feet apart

we are not the cursed few

we are the many

it is all of us

and it might break

our hearts

but it will pass.

See also poems read out loud at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9uLwxslE_VQ-fu-Dw6gdIA/playlists

Also https://www.amazon.com.au/Day-At-Time-Rhyme/dp/0648083861/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=A+Day+At+A+Time+In+Rhyme+Jane+Clifton&qid=1572053238&sr=8-1