By Frank William Finney
Another Wave
Sitting in the bleachers of a raucous
rally, we listen as they pack
our old suitcase with wrinkled
shirts and holey socks
A week’s worth of laundry
that stinks up the room.
Tired of the restrictions, we’ve
pulled off our masks,
we shake hands,
and we hug again.
Glad that’s finally over,
we say with a smile.
Finally ready to live again.
Screw the ‘new’ normal:
plain normal’s enough.
We’re ready to party,
to have and to hold.
It’s our right to be right.
We’ll do what we please.
The New Masquerade
But how things have changed
since that fashionable age,
when they came to pick apples
or search for some sage;
to chat at the checkout
without worry or fear
of catching the plague
if a stranger came near.
When sipping hot cider
on a cold winter’s day
made the world a bit warmer
before the wheels rolled away.
When the parade past the produce
and courtly cashiers
was a part of the pageant
preserved through the years.
The Darkling Dove
(Bangkok, 2020)
With apologies to Hardy
I watched the rain from my study window
When the monsoon season came,
And saw the birdbath overflow
while the squirrels played a game.
The palm fronds tapped the mango leaves
like lovers on a date,
And the bats that stirred under the eaves
knew their hunt would have to wait.
The city seemed insentient
since the Covid spell began,
The wise and the percipient
tried hard to make a plan.
The mall rats all but disappeared.
Many a mom-and-pop closed shop.
Things got worse than most had feared,
When would all the madness stop?
As evening settled on the lane,
and the rain had tapered off,
A little movement eased my angst and pain,
as I suppressed a sudden cough.
A zebra dove, small, spry, and shy
bobbled its way through a puddle,
pecking at rice that the pigeons passed by,
while the world stumbled on through the muddle.
Frank William Finney is a New England based poet who taught literature at Thammasat University in Thailand for 25 years (1995-2020). Find him online at https://www.facebook.com/FrankWilliamFinney/
and Twitter: @FwFinneypoet