Quarantine poems

Quarantine in the Merchant Hotel April 2020

We watch the little child at play
She’s grumpy today.
Denied the freedom of her home
this courtyard she roams.
Hopping, jumping along low walls
she spies her beach ball.
Launching herself at her poor sick mum
who soldiers on…numb.

Sweet squeals of laughter reach our ears
to soften the fears.
Rubbish bags now her fairy wings
the little girl sings.
Twirling in her bubble wrap skirt
mummy hides the hurt.
Perhaps it’s finally ended and
life can be mended.

Marriott Hotel Quarantine April 2020

There’re harbour ferries, buses, cars and lots more
A mosaic of movement, a landscape, a score.
From the 25th floor we watch the construction
A massive blade cuts to remove the obstruction
Diminishing signs of previous existence
Perpetual motion and daily persistence.

A cement chequer board with Lego like blocks
are lifted by loaders on trucks to our shock
They surely won’t move if they put on one more
Yet off they go slowly, each strong to the core.
My attention’s distracted by looming cranes
There are two side by side; nearby are the trains

Like children we wait for the knock on the door
Excited to see what’s been left on the floor.
What do we do in our incarceration?
Exercise, games our preoccupation
until quarantine ends and we can go home
to our garden, solace whence we yearn to roam.