28th March 10pm
Some dates

are a shape,

this is one such date

where I see something –

days are curved

in circles and spirals

people are losing their jobs

the young, the old are becoming ill.



29th March 1045pm
You and I are just two people

we are here

there is no going out, no seeing

The world’s contracted thus

But smallness is neat,

it is haircutting and sweeping

calling family

and peering at phones,

counting statistics

window cleaning

and gardening.



30th March 1225pm
Half the world is closed

some think the Government is controlling us

and we are cheering them on.

We follow podcasts, hopeful

we listen to the radio

loudly.



1st April 945pm
The whole world is closed

and now we wait

in strange limbo

for the new warnings

and reports.

In the morning

I stand in the kitchen

weeping at the radio

there aren’t enough candles

to light

for Spain and Italy.



17th April 7pm
After days of quiet

I find a rhythm

cleaning the hidden parts of the house

where insects thought they were safe

I clean behind washing machine

I make piles for the op shop

for the tip

but boxes stay stacked

by the door.



20th April 1020pm
It is a warm night

fans turning

the dog settles out my window

a man yells far off

there’s often yelling

in distant snatches I miss.

The desert town is a memory of its past,

people knock on my door

asking for grog.



21st April 11pm
I’m attached to dark thoughts

I ignore the lack of tears

and am surprised

when they come.

But there are the small moments –

honeyeaters, a new leaf,

two pearl white eggs

of a feral pigeon,

things to look for –

things to focus on.



22nd April 1130pm
Too much Netflix:

Israeli security police drama,

a crazy tiger zoo,

the death toll rises

too quickly.

Little by little

my garden grows. 

The world’s contracted thus from The Sunne Rising by John Donne