Shalom Freedman Poems

It is as if I want something to eat and drink
That does not exist
Is it chocolate?
Is it bread?
...

Once a poem meant something
Now what can it mean
In a time of pandemic?
Sitting outside the pharmacy
...

Too nervous to write
I write anyway
I cannot write much
There is so much happening at once
...

God help the lonely
God help those who have no one to talk to
God help those who are abused by others
God help those who suffer constant humiliation
...

This coronavirus is not the plague
The plague is far more horrible
The plague does not forget the children
Nor does it deal in a kinder way with the middle aged
...

The streets are empty
Except for a solitary jogger
The regular bustling morning
Is silent
...

The statistics tell an impersonal story
We read them and think of and fear
Becoming one of the real stories
The real stories are another dimension
...

It is as if everything is mixed up and confused
All order is lost from the world
So much is cancelled
So many things one liked to do
...

I walk and I walk
I walk and walk
I am not going anywhere
I walk back and forth
...

There is so much else in life beside the coronavirus
Why do I give it so much time and thought?
Because it keeps me inside
Because it has changed my life and everyone's life
...