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Monday, April 20, 2020

Poem During the Plague: Poem 16






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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