Richard E. Brenneman has returned to writing poetry and
breaking bread with the Bagel Bards. This of course is now virtual on Zoom and
commiserating with new friends on Facebook. He has recently been published in
Muddy River Poetry Review, Ibbetson Street and Nixes Mate Review.
LAZARETTO
Separated in place, homebound
as in lazarettos
in ports of call
where infected sailors were kept
in quarantine
so their ills did not infect
the market places beyond the walls.
Only silk, lapis, rubies, or
foodstuffs passed those portals.
We rage against the lack
of human voice or sight,
seized and held
by this painful despot of our isolation,
vulnerable as
tossed to and fro
on a raft in boundless ocean.
Daily we walk and can avoid
others with their dogs.
We can look at budding leaf
and flower,
but still are
isolated,
quarantined
against this pestilence,
this grief,
this fear that would rob us
of health, of life,
of voice.
We answer back with poetry
distilled from verbiage,
motley cant,
random vocabulary,
digestion of dictionaries,
sharp words, staccato sounds
beat in restless fury
from our redoubt.
Still we abide.
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