Thank-you. You are a worthy herald
Corona. We could have named
you better, been more generous.
You have shown us in vivid form,
whilst invisible to the lens of the eye,
how this planet needs us
to breathe. How we suffocate
her lungs, as you do ours,
how we breathe together
or do not.
There is still hope that Mother Earth,
at least, will survive
with oxygen infusions
if not with ventilators
though they may come
to be ingenuously crafted.
We may not have learned
all we could from your presence
not that you are sent with intention
or arose to teach
no, we the earth and her manifestations
arising with you
give birth to you.
No longer. Now we infuse our being
with light we turn to
shine on you.
Enlightened, disrupted
we will seek new solutions.
Go. Light illuminates you
beyond your capacity
to survive, crystallises the succours
you use to inhabit life here
so that you can no longer find purchase
transmute now to light, in the light,
to which you are returned.
……….
Susan Lindsay’s third book of poetry published by Doire Press, Milling the Air (2018). Former titles were Whispering the Secrets (2011) and Fear Knot (2013). In recent years her work appeared, amongst other places, in Poetry Ireland Review and the 2016 Irish edition of The Café Review in Portland, USA. Susan has also facilitated Conversations mediated by poetry at festivals and in community settings. Blog: susanlindsayauthor@blogspot.com.