Day 30 — history doing what history does best

Once again, as if to round out the month, the poem I had been planning to finish the event with is not the one I’m publishing tonight. Again, an article I read about 100 year old New York serviceman who died due to complications with COVID19. This led to me playing with voice & POV & trying to put the scant biographical facts I had about him into a poetic first person monologue. Which lead me to research more about him. Thankfully the first article I read was the least evocative & I found some beautiful stories/snippets in other obituaries.

As much as I liked the other idea, it seems right & fitting to end with this moving personal story that spans the centuries.

*****

Philip Kahn: a semi-imagined poetic obituary

everyone should understand by now history always
replays versions of itself for its own amusement.

he was born at the end of the war to end all wars
— then fought in the next one that came along.

on the ground, at Iwo Jima, survived snipers — & a booby
trap which blew him 15 feet from where he stood.

from the air, over Japan, flew B29s & dropped
bombs — then carried their weight the rest of his life.

he helped the Twin Towers go up
— then like everyone else, watched them come down.

married in 46 & remained happily wed
— until Rose’s death last summer.

yet always — he carried a void with him.
i was that void. Samuel. twin. died 1919.

taken by two pandemics — a century apart.
a life lived — & one that only watched.

the irony of our deaths — is my brother
& i are bookends on a shelf that never ends.

Day 29 — the end of my GloWriMoPo 2-part poem experiment

While I don’t think this poem works as well as I hoped it might, I was keen to complete because I thought it an interesting idea & I wanted to try & show in semi-poetic sense how acts of non-isolation impact others. Given a chance I’d restructure the first part giving me more flexibility in part 2. And once this month’s all over, & I’ve recovered, I might just do that.

Here’s the link to the first part if you want a refresher.

*****

Quarantine: part 2

what Donnie did this week

1. the days in bed didn’t help
he ended up being rushed to hospital
where he’s spent the last week
on a ventilator …

a selection of consequences of the things Donnie did instead of staying home

1. Plane
several people at Donnie’s church feel unwell.
including the pastor who has performed three funerals in the past 48 hours.
the lady that prepares the community meals hasn’t come in for days
one of the cabin crew felt feverish in Perth a couple of days later
but had to work a flight back to her home Brisbane
before she could self isolate.
her housemates have been looking after her.

2. Shops
1st time. the check out girl who served him caught what Donnie has
— but as she’s a casual with no sick leave
she’s been at work every day since.
2nd time. the woman who used his trolley after him has a cough.
3rd time. when he coughed without covering his mouth
the butcher couldn’t avoid breathing some in.

3. Grandmother
his grandmother died
(though she has lots of loo paper in reserve).

4. Beach
thankfully Donnie encountered no one at the beach.

5. Haircut
his barber has come down sick.
his barber’s young son too.
& the mum of the kid next door who looks after him after kindy.
his barber’s son’s kindy teacher is sick, but has recovered.
her mother has not.
his barber’s parents are also feeling ill.

6. Bus
three passengers that Donnie coughed near are sick,
   including one who has CF: she has been hospitalised
   & is in a critical condition
one of the nurses at the hospital is so overwhelmed
   he’s contemplating suicide.
the single mother he sat next to is having trouble breathing.
   she doesn’t know who’s going to look after her young son.
two high school students had the virus without even really knowing.
their English teacher was not so lucky.
the driver has died.

7. Mates
Gary felt crook but kept going to work.
Gary’s boss has a fever.
Greg too felt a bit funny, but stayed home in bed.
Greg’s wife is now in bed too (& not in the fun way).
Greg’s wife’s mum dropped off some soup for them.
and did a bit of tidying up.
now she’s having trouble breathing.
Bill is fine.

today
… sadly Donnie
has recovered.

Day 28 – a few things you may not know about the 1918 pandemic

I swear I’m going to have twenty incomplete/half-edited poems because after working for several hours on a poem about new research suggests COVID-19 seems to be affecting more than just lungs, including attacking the heart; I suddenly started spewing forth ideas from a couple of articles I’d read about the flu pandemic of 1918-19 (often erroneously or unfairly called Spanish flu). It’s almost like I’ve got to write for a while on one topic before I can let the right one out.

Anyway, he’s a wee trip back in time that might shed some light on both the present & the future …

*****

H1N1

humanity has been learning
to live with a new disease — new to us
which in itself is nothing new

the one everyone keeps
harping on about is the H1N1
influenza outbreak of 1918–19

three waves washed round
the world infecting 500 million
then killing between a tenth & a fifth

the end arrived only when immunity
was conferred — transforming
H1N1 from pandemic to endemic

then it hung round for 40 —
— more — years — as a seasonal virus
though at much less severe levels

despite all our efforts
it didn’t disappear till 1957
when a new pandemic H2N2

eradicated almost the entire
H1N1 — one flu virus strain
somehow supplanting another

& the scariest part?
— scientists don’t really
know how it did it

Day 27 – amusing reflections on our education conundrum

Not the poem I was working on initially, but given my facebook feed was full of posts on this topic, it sorta spewed out. Maybe the COVIDSafe app poem will get aired tomorrow. Or maybe like around a dozen others, it won’t, cos I’m running out of time.

*****

funny haha

isn’t it funny
how council playgrounds
are off limits with signs up
saying CLOSED FOR COVID
but playgrounds in primary schools
all over the country
are somehow virus-safe spaces

isn’t it funny
how kids aren’t allowed
to visit their grandparents
but teachers of the same age
are supposed to go to work
to teach classrooms full
of similarly aged tykes

isn’t it funny
how the prime minister
closed parliament till august
so 76 senators & 151 house of reppers
don’t have to associate together
whereas schools with a 1000 kids
& 100s of staff are meant to function
as if everything’s normal

actually, i guess
it’s not that funny
after all

like a lot of what’s going on
right now

Day 26 – festive-themed silly Sunday

Okay, this is one I’ve been saving. I’ve tried to get it as close to the original as I can (phonetically & rhythmically, but I’ll concede there are holes) — while referencing contemporary things, which definitely made it more challenging. But it’s okay for a bit of fun. I’m just gonna hit you with the last verse not the 11 incrementally longer versions. But you’re smart, you can figure out what’s going on.

*****

12 days of Coronamas

12th day
On the 12th day of Coronamas my true love sent to me
Twelve doctors doct’ring
Eleven nurses nursing
Ten landlords a-weeping
Nine checkouts chicking
Eight Brady’s zooming
Seven stylists a-trimming
Six priests a-praying
Five toilet rolls
Four brawling kids
Three Bench Clenz
Two surgical gloves, and
A smart new facemask just for me

Day 25 — big dates raise big issues

As always, Anzac Day is highly conflicted for me. I had two grandfathers who served in WW2 in North Africa, the Middle East & Papua New Guinea & who thankfully both came home. I had a great grandfather & a great great uncle who fought in the trenches of France & one came home & one did not. I had another great grandfather who served with the Light Horse in Egypt & Palestine. He also came home. So the Anzac mythos is strong on both sides of my family. It is personal. However, at the same time, I find much of Anzac Day tokenistic* & backward-looking. See below for my reasoning.

*Though there is something very communal & positive about the #AnzacAtHome & #DrivewayAtDawn movement as a result of COVID-19 which I like immensely. Perhaps this could be one of the ways forward, followed by street parties all over the country.

*****

the Anzac spirit

beware: today’s the day you’re most
likely to catch Anzacspiritus flu
an insidious disease that claims men
fighting on Gallipoli beaches
& trenches of the Western front
somehow forged our young nation’s
nature with five distinctive qualities:
mateship, humour, courage,
ingenuity, & endurance.

my perennial question —
how 256,000 men who rarely
spoke of their experiences
influenced the entirity of Australian
society’s then five millions
remains unanswered.

that said, i don’t begrudge a nation
built on these tenets
they’re a reasonable list — though
you wonder if they’re not in fact
lacking somewhat. maybe: compassion,
cooperation, freedom, security & equity
could be added.

but instead of simply praising them
this one day of the year
let’s actually live by them.

there wasn’t much mateship going round
when toilet paper was being hoarded
& supermarket shelves stripped;
nor courage when it came to attacking
fellow citizens simply because they look
like where our current virus is from.
thankfully though our GSOH
has been highly evident through countless
memes, TP workout routines, etc.

my request is — if any politician
from the Prime Minister down
to your local council member
wants to cash in on the gungho glory
of Anzac then they need to spread
those five+ tenets to every decision
they make throughout the year.

let’s start using our brave, heroic,
foolish, flawed Diggers never ending
sacrifices to heal, to look forward,
instead of always behind …

Day 24 — doing one’s bit in trying times #notallheroes

A smaller more personal poem today, after the excesses of yesterday.

*****

peak pandemic

how perfectly pleasant
to sit inside rug on lap
book in hand tea by side
warm as butter slowly
melting into hot crumpets
dog snoring nearby

while outside trees writhe
in the window-rattling
thunder-spreading wind
the sky grey in all ways
& the rain hits the roof
like a million microscopic
viruses trying to breach
my home’s defences

all while knowing

i’m
helping
save
the
world

life has reached peak

Note: I’m borderline embarrassed to admit (but not quite really) that I almost spent more time looking at images of cups of tea next to books by rainy windows than I did writing the poem. OMG I’ve discovered a new way (as if one was needed) to waste valuable interwebs time.

Day 22 — how to conduct a successful social interaction in the age of forgetting what people are

Worked on two more “serious” poems for much of the afternoon/evening … then this little masterpiece of “how to conduct a successful social interaction” muscled its way in & took over. Probably for the best, there’s too much serious shit going on anyways.

*****

face to, er …

while out : on my legally sanctioned : essential activities today : yet another blood test : if you must know : mr secret policeman : i observe : a friend : not seen, y’know, in the flesh : for forever : foolishly : inundated by hormones : or oxygen overload : or something : i call out : then immediately : regret : as it means : bursting the digital bubble : we have existed in : quite pleasantly for/

/fuck they’re here : now i need to talk small : & when you’ve been doing : the exact same thing : every : day : since : the Ides : trying to spice up : your exceedingly monotone : discomplishments : all while : trying to remember : that normal people : tend to make eye contact : then worrying : that normal people : shouldn’t be standing round : reminding themselves : that normal people : need to make eye contact — & all that while : making (it’s to be hoped) : non-threatening : non-psychotic : eye contact : it’s also considered : quite polite : to listen to whatever : mundanity they’ve been up to : too

disturbingly : there are times : when the words : just : end

& i’m not sure : what to do : ordinarily : (ie, for the past 6 weeks) : you just stop typing : have a little think : maybe make a cup of tea : or go pee : or both : then return : rejuvenated : & fill in that obscene : j’accuse! : rectangular window : with something devastating & witty : & one’s reputation : as raconteur : & all round good egg : is maintained

finally : blessedly : the words : eventually : completely : dry up : & we are able : after a couple of : false starter’s pistols : dash off : in our separate : lanes

quick drive home : then the first thing i do? : msg them to say : it was good seeing you in the flesh … even if I did realise halfway through I has forgetted how to person it up

their swift reply : you were never that good at it to begin with : while technically correct : hurts : more than it should

Day 19 – turns out is semi-silly Sunday after all

As with yesterday, poor health means I’m gonna double up on poems today too. I’m still sticking to theme though. So all good.

Here is the prompt from TheDirtyThirty2020 #day19.

“You’re a criminal mastermind leaving a note at one of your classic, non-murderous, white collar, victimless crime scenes. In the letter, you leave a secret, hidden message for a genius, wily investigator to find, hoping for a game of cat and mouse they’ll make a movie about one day. Write the letter you leave.”

Given the task was to leave a letter for an inspector to find I thought who’s the best inspector I know? Why Peter Sellers of course. To make things more interesting I thought I’d combine another character into the mix as the criminal.

So here’s my letter from Where’s Wally to Inspector Clouseau.

*****

What’s Wally stolen?

Clouseau – you cannot catch me – I’ve left no clue
Or maybe I have – so beware – that clue’s untrue
Vanished I have – into the ether – into the air
Into here – into there – perhaps into everywhere

Disappearing in crowds is what I do best of all
– where’s that effing Wally? – I hear you chiding
1f you get really desperate you could always call
911, or 999, or 000, 112, 110 – depends where I’m hiding

Can you find me – can you guess what I’ve got
Unlikely I’d say – you’re too big a clot
Rest for a moment – no – you’d best not
Everyone in the world wants – what’s in my pot

(Note: I may not have obeyed every single adjectival prompt request.)

Day 18 – silly Sunday, but a day early

Last week Silly Sunday was a day late, this week a day early. Next week will be the correct day I promise.

The reason I’m posting silly Sunday today is that the prompt for #TheDirtyThirty2020 (which I’m also doing this year, why, not sure, seemed an okay idea once upon a time) was limerick. For which I wrote two, both Coronavirus related. So in the efforts of saving time, energy, & getting back into bed sooner, I’m doubling up by posting here too. Technically since I wrote two limericks I’m covered anyway, but enough justification.

Also, what’s the record number of naps taken in one day? Asking for a friend.

*****

There once was a ship Ruby Princess
Whose arrival caused much distress
…..for most had a virus
…..but Dutton was desirous
At home they all should convalesce

There once was much talk of a curve
how now it’s flat we needn’t observe
…..cos we’re tired of inside
…..even if others must die
Which you gotta admit takes some kinda nerve

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