Just Another Day…everywhere

The people who were going to die have died.

The town has mourned them in the proper way.

Their time has passed. Now time has passed them by.
The people who were going to die have died.
We think of them. Their memories abide.
There really isn’t very much to say.
The people who were going to die have died.
The town has mourned them in the proper way….

The people who are here will not be here.*

W hile day in and day out may look bleak and foreboding, we should embrace the little things that we seem to be forgetting, overlooking, inadvertently tossing to the side as unimportant in the totality of the moment. Most folks know that we are now in springtime. More than likely, few people know exactly when we transitioned from winter to another season. (It was March 19th, my youngest daughter’s 25th Birthday and the quarter century remembrance of my Dad’s passing.) With children and spouse/partners WFH and school age children being ever present, we get caught up in minutiae that does not define who we are and who we should be. We let go those pleasurable moments of curling up in a chair with a libation and reading a book that was meant to be read years ago. We are neighbor less. Shopping is an unbearable experience propelled by face masks, gloves, disinfectants and trying to ascertain six feet when tapes is not on the floor. Cooking is more of a chore even more than it used to be. Last nerves are frayed and unraveling. Watching anything on TV seems to be an extravagance when it appears that our world is no longer as we knew it to be. So, what’s the point? aaduna says, “Have a brave heart.” T here are pockets, glimpses, hiding places, nooks and crannies of inspiration that will bring a moment of joy and remind us that even in the darkest hour, our spirit rests in hope and the willingness to persevere against all odds. Bruce Bennett takes us to a place where there is a steel post to hang onto.

Bruce Bennett [photo provided]

 

SONG IN A TIME

OF CORONAVIRUS

Tra la  Tra la

Go wash your hands.

Don’t touch your face.

If someone stands

Too near, report them.

Sweet birds sing.

Keep windows open.

Happy Spring!

“Song in A Time of Coronavirus” was previously published online on Monday, March 23rd, in Light Poetry Magazine's "Poems of the Week."

* * *

                FORSYTHIA​ 

The yellow flowers are coming out

the way they always do.

The season never was in doubt,

and everything is new. 

So let’s forget what weighs us down,

at least a little while.

The yellow flowers are coming out.

Come on. You too. A smile. 

Come on. It’s easy. I won’t tell.

Just do it now for me.

Don’t hide back somewhere in your shell.

Please! Nobody will see, 

And even if they do, so what?

They ought to smile too.

See? See? The flowers are coming out

the way they always do.

“Forsythia” initially published online as a "Poem of the Week" by Light Poetry Magazine, April 6, 2020. https://lightpoetrymagazine.com/poems-of-the-week/

Bruce Bennett lives in Aurora, New York. He is Professor Emeritus of English at Wells College, and author of many books of poetry and poetry chapbooks. 

*excerpted from “JUST ANOTHER DAY IN JUST OUR TOWN” from JUST ANOTHER DAY IN JUST OUR TOWN POEMS NEW AND SELECTED 2000-2016

Copyright© 2017 Bruce Bennett

* * *

N

ew Orleans on our mind:

Stay safe.  Be well.

~ bill

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