“Pandemic Perspectives”
Lockdown Morning: Stunning observations on the internal and the external moods of
lockdown from Dorothy - ‘let the countryside go for a walk in you’
She is heavy with morning. As if its weight
has flattened her and drained all her rivers.
She stays in her dressing gown.
The Bard says, ‘Let the countryside go for a walk
inside you. Let the skylark rise and rise
inside you. Turn yourself inside out
then in again, but bring the foundlings
of Black Hill and Capelaw, the rolling heather,
the yellow stars of celandines to light
your gloom.’ He pauses for breath.
You’ve got sky from your window, he says,
learn to love the sky. It’s enough for
the skylark and the swift. It’ll do you too,
till your feet find the ground again. Sit
by the window and get to know the light.
And if you need to, weep. Weep until all your tears
have flowed. Empty yourself like the clouds
release their rain. Pour your sadness into the day.
It is big enough to hold it.
When you’re all wept out, you’ll be washed
like the coloured saris in the Ganges are laid out
on the shores to dry. Give yourself time.
The day will tiptoe back into you, whispering
endearments, beckoning. Follow it. Follow it
into the white blossoming on bare trees
into the shades of green behind
the tulips, into the heron still and sharp
in the river. Into the absolute second
of existence. You’re alive. Now
what is it you can do?
Dorothy