Emily Mazalevskis is our resident cinnamon scroll lover and casual book-reader (but only sometimes)

 

 

Here we go — all of us trying

to stay afloat. Monochrome circles

favoured the severe. I see crowds

of people, walking around in a ring.

I had not thought death                      life

had undone

so many.

 

Make yourself at home —

I’m sorry for the mess. It’s been a while …

I’ve been meaning to get onto that.

Two thousand and twenty years,

What have we done now?

Oh, look what we have here!

 

a circle

A circle?

parallel lines never meet

 

This is a public service announcement:

Be kind to your mind.

Tips to stay mentally healthy during COVID-19!

Pause

 

ring a ring a rosie

a pocket full of posies

a tissue! a tissue!

we all fall down

 

At the third stroke it will be

eleven fifty-three and two seconds.

 

tik tik tik tik tok tik tok tik

i’ve fallen asleep with the light on again

why do i keep doing that?

well

another day

up

up

      up

 

This is a pandemic.

Please — my constitutional rights are essential!

what even is a pandemic

(of a disease) prevalent over a whole country or the world.

 

always second place

second bloody place

 

this is a pandemic?

home is where the heart is

i can feel every cell beating.

lost

i am lost

in a little place

with the human race

 

Back to the topic at hand!

I wasn’t allowed to leave the house for three weeks,

so here I am writing poetry. Again.

Hey Siri, what considers poetry, poetry?

fancy lines

indents

maybe some quotations

or vague descriptions

google says that poetry makes you feel

words

make

you

feel

i can’t feel

these lines                   are                               going                                       nowhere

 

To whom it may concern,

I regret to inform you of the death of . . .

i can no longer name every name.

a metronome no longer marking the altitudes

but the descent.

how can one feel so lonely in a city of millions?

 

We are the hollow men

We are the stuffed men

 

mama?

i can’t breathe.

 

So, how does this story end? Love

has died here. Hello, have you seen my wife?

I’m looking for my life.

 

I never wanted to see you again.

Two thousand and twenty years

and we’ve already destroyed it all.

I’m sorry it didn’t last long.

 

what can i do?             what can i do?

i never want to see you again.

 

This is the way the world ends.

too many words

too many words

i can’t think

i can’t think

what can i say

this is going nowhere

 

 

Yemen.

how could i think like this

i hate words

i hate words