A Different Time

 This poem is by Patricia Pettett who is a fellow-member of the two groups I belong to: Creative Writing Circle and Poetry Appreciation.  If you compare her poem with others in this collection which talk about Covid, especially the one by Simon Armitage, there is an optimism which the others lack.


A Different Time

 

We fell asleep in one world

and woke up in another.

Universally we are locked

away like prisoners

behind bars.

 

For years we

have tarnished our world.

Have envied and coveted,

argued and blamed,

discarded and littered,

threatened and killed.

 

Now in isolation

it’s different.

Families are distant,

friends remote,

hugs are the weapons.

 

Power, money, beauty,

mean nothing.

People young and old

struggle with Covid

Thousands die.

 

But strangely

the world continues

to live without us.

 

New found beauty reveals

fresh air

clear skies

sparkling rivers.

 

Is this sending a message?

 

The earth, the water, the sky

are fine without you.

 

Before you return,

please remember,

you are not my masters

you are my guests.


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