Poetry in Lockdown: Part IV

“Stay home, stay safe, save lives!”
This means no handshakes and no high-fives
We have to do this so no-one dies

I really hate being in lockdown
Not seeing Grandma makes me frown

Under Covid you cannot hug
So that we don’t spread the bug

Lockdown puts you in a really bad mood
In some countries they don’t have enough food

What happened to George Floyd makes me mad
It seems these days all the news is bad.

-Ely Doyle, age 9 (St Kilian’s German School)

Submitted June 11, 2020

At my father’s burial they dug the grave
Too short. As mourners looked away
Diggers spaded out some further clods,
We watched his coffin down into the clay:
The people chorused to the priest-led  prayers,
Relatives and friends were last to leave.

A soldier died alone on foreign soil,
No church bell toned for him, no public woe: 
His only shroud a three line telegram.

This virus wins by shutting out soft air.
The isolated victims are cocooned
From one last touch, one kiss from family:
No meitheal there to wrap itself around
Those griefshot, as graveside prayers
Encase the next of kin reaved of the accustomed
Grip of hands and sorrow in the face,
No final word, no glance to share their grief:
We stand apart, await the hearse pass by.

-Joseph Lynch 

Submitted June 11, 2020

The fear sets in
But the fumes clear off
All around, people sing
So, all is not lost
People are isolated and they cannot meet
But don’t use your spare time writing an angry tweet
This is for a reason
That you should learn
To stop the flow and to flatten the curve
So, use this time.
Learn something new
This is for the world
Although it might hurt you
Keep away from others
But do still chat
PLEASE don’t panic
What’s the point in that?

-Garrett Nugent, Age 12, (St Matthews National School, Irishtown)

Submitted June 12, 2020

You had it tough recently, the two of you,
Lost above and below you in the tree;
Yet you smiled and talked like that, when we saw you.
Was it your trust in faith and family

That got you through? Or hope for a tomorrow
With all the little moments where love plays.
You left us now to wonder, in our sorrow,
And seek it in the ashes of your days.

-Liam Murphy

Submitted June 17, 2020

Rain on leaves,
hopping and skipping.
Unsure whether it’s a toad,
or maybe a shrew?
No, it’s just a drop,
chaffinch on a treetop.
Drips and drops,
deep in the forest,
Hidden fox cubs eye me up.
In UCD – nature has taken over
her rightful throne.
Now, human,
do not usurp her place.
Let the rain cleanse us,
and step back,
and listen.
As the greenfinch screeches
and the wren belts out its tune.
Leaves,
repellent to the human touch.
Let it rain.
But, most of all,
let us learn.

-Dr Anthea Lacchia

Submitted June 18, 2020

I’m flying on a unicorn
Over Dublin bay,
Watching people in masks
Go about their day.
I fly on further,
To a big old house
Where I see an old lady crying,
Over a picture of her son, who, with the Coronavirus is dying.
I sadly think of all the people who have died in this disaster,
Though the spread of the Coronavirus
Is getting slower,
Not faster!
Then suddenly I am brought back
To my cosy bed,
I had dreamt a nightmare
Full of dread.
When I find out
My nightmare is mostly real,
I rang up healthcare workers
And we made a deal.
The next day we worked hard
On curing people all around the whole wide world for sure,
So, when we were done there was no more nasty Coronavirus
ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Anna Simms, aged 9

Submitted June 19, 2020