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