For our last poem of this week’s Poem Of The Week, we have Lockdown by Audrey Ardern-Jones. This relatable sonnet reflects on the solemn and hopeful moments of lockdown-
Lockdown
It’s Easter week, Holy week, another week
of quiet, no aeroplanes overhead, an empty sky
waiting; days slipping into days in this unique
regime of silent streets where no-one passes by.
We listen to radios, stroll most mornings;
the dead are counted daily, numbers spin like dice across
the globe - a pandemic in crisis - messages spread
in seconds: words that pool in times of loss.
In our garden a blackbird sings, his yellow beak
opens wide like a chorister, he loves this calm;
a robin chirps in harmony, multiple magpies shriek
in voices, hey, hey, hey, loud as a burglar alarm.
The world’s on hold, our planet heals, cools down,
we long to dance again - live life in a fancy gown.