Moments in Time

BY PAT CONNORS

I am in lockdown

separated from society

trapped by a worldwide crisis

with an unknown outcome.

Eating and cleaning slowly lead 

to the grey peak of the afternoon

when I am made dull and sullen

by anxiety and despair.

I go out to the yard

to see if fresh air and movement

will provide a sense of release

from uncertainty and boredom.

As I walk my solitary circle 

I pass this moment in time 

with nothing else to do

other than get through it.

I go back inside and take a nap

balance my checkbook, read a poem

watch a rerun of M*A*S*H for the 400th time

and figure out how to pass the evening.

A late April rain washes out

the muddy tracks I left on the lawn

the one and only hour of sunlight

and the hope for a brighter tomorrow.

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PAT CONNORS’s first chapbook, Scarborough Songs, was published by Lyricalmyrical Press in 2013, and charted on the Toronto Poetry Map. Other publication credits include Spadina Literary Review, Tamaracks, and Tending the Fire, released this spring by the League of Canadian Poets. His first full collection is forthcoming.