Covid Malaise

This poem was inspired by my teenager's bout of angst over the crises in which we find ourselves in 2020

A heavy weight presses down and down
That malaise of Life never gives ground
when all the world’s flailing, falling
It feels like sinking, like drowning
Is there no reprieve… no freedom’s air
In a world gone mad, I just can’t breathe
Sinking darkness pulls me deep
It’s hulking form hides the light
Pandemic and death are all around
Our weighted hearts bourn down, down, down
The best of us dies… and dies… and dies
For the worst of us, perfidy flourishes
Justice is bound, dragged back and back
Bound by oppression, justice is undone
Society is broken… bereft of compassion
Throw away people… grandma callously sacrificed
Crushing our youth… their futures betrayed

The hate us more than they love the children
For no more than alt-fact "freedumbs"

Image source

Reviews

[barleygirl]

I love this perspective. Not having had kids/g-kids, I forget how teens can spiral into moods that seem all-consuming. You've captured it in a way that doesn't attempt to analyze it or dissect it, but merely to present how it feels & we can surely feel it from your words. The first half of your poem deals more in the palpable, down-to-earth sensations and then the second half starts to get a little more philosophical, in my way of reading it, such that the second half felt a little more cerebral, but I prefer the more gut-level honest simplicity of the first half. It's all strong & well-integrated, of course. I'm just showing you what I observed while reading (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you very much. You've excellently editorialized the aim of my poem.

[Fran Marie]

The covid pandemic
has hit hard and done
so much damage
all over ..teenagers
especially get
depressed with lockdown s
they're young and want
to be in the go with friends
and entertainment..hard
for all to cope but the teens
especially find it harder to
handles this virus..

nice writeup

[MomzillaNC]

Thanks for reading. And yes, teenagers may have it the worst. The remote learning thing has been problematic from the start and seems to only heighten the stress and anxiety. Plus, without being able to hang with their friends and commiserate, the stresses are largely unchecked.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

I sense the oppressive quality of our situation from this portrayal of descent into the covid doldrums. Your chosen words and phraseology depicts well the smothering nature of being restricted and having life curtailed with headline after headline of death statistics and doom.

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you. It's been the hardest part of this morass watching my teen son struggle to deal with it all.

[Robert Trakofler]

Great rhyme and flow in this one MOM! and oh how I feel your daughters pains give her the solace dear mom and let her know that she is not alone:)

[MomzillaNC]

Ummm… I wasn't trying to rhyme -- didn't even realize I'd done so. 😎 I was trying to keep to a feel of meter, though, without the rigidity of actual meter. LOL

Thanks so much, Robert 🐇

[Robert Trakofler]

he he I do that too LOL "oh i wrote in meter... oops I didn't notice!"

[MomzillaNC]

Actually, you wrote "rhyme and flow" -- interpolated (extrapolated my interpretation of that phrase) to meter. LOL

[MomzillaNC]

BTW, my teenager is an over hairy, bearded behemoth of a boy! LOL