It’s now February 8, 2021, 329 days since the first community quarantine was implemented. I’m sharing here a poem I wrote after the 50th day, and random photos of my new normal — the masked and shielded reality of today.
It’s been 50 days since I stayed home, the calendar a reminder.
It was March 16 when the community quarantine was first felt.
It was Araw ng Dabaw, it should have been a festive day,
But Covid won’t allow that, as if saying: Everything has to halt.
There’s a tropical depression today, the weather station announces
As if condoling with the depression of many amid the unknown.
No one is allowed to enter the city, the government says,
A stark reminder that we are not even allowed to leave home.
It’s Mother’s Day, you know, social media is full of greetings
Along with the love is a longing, a muffled cry to connect.
The pandemic has slammed the doors on many,
Locking out, stranding people, to hold Covid in check.
Thus, outside social media where greetings come in all forms,
There is the same quiet and isolation, you can hear a pin drop.
Night time has taken over, tomorrow will be the 51st.
Even the anticipated rainfall didn’t come, it too was stopped.
Staring now at the dark sky with no trace of the storm
We shake our heads as weather’s unpredictability remains.
Comes the thought on how weather long studied
Continues to confound, much more this virulent strain.
There’s a long and very dark tunnel ahead of us
That only the world of science can shed a light on
How long it will take, we can only pray it’ll be soon
‘Coz the past weeks showed, it’s scary to face the unknown.
- May 10, 2020
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