By Linda Cosgriff
3.3 Million
How do you count the cost
of the worldwide Covid-19 toll?
Begin digging the first hole.
Lockdown Ends
we leave our homes
and hug our beloveds
and cringe a little inside
Covid-19 Vaccination
I want worldwide immunity
So I can cuddle with impunity
Linda Cosgriff’s blog https://poetryfluff.wordpress.com is an effort to bring poetry to those who hate and/or fear it. Her first collection, Hormoanal, about menopause and motherhood, was published in 2019 https://www.matthewjamespublishing.com/products/matthew-james-publishing/hormoanal
I wrote these poems because writing poetry is how I process life and the world, particularly my anger or my observation of absurdity. I have written poetry my whole life but only took it seriously in my forties, when I completed a creative writing course as part of my Literature degree with the Open University. I completed a master’s degree in poetry writing in 2018 with Manchester Metropolitan University, and then didn’t write anything for two and a half years, due to ill health (mental and physical). The lockdown coincided with my return to health (mental and physical) and one of the first things I did was write a poem about Covid-19.
Having witnessed the truly miserable time everyone has had over the past year – mostly, but not just because of Covid – I decided to set up a fun poetry blog. The poems are as simple as possible and aimed at those who don’t read poetry, whether through fear or dislike, in the hope that daft rhymes will make people smile for a moment. Some are topical; many are not. I believe in the healing power of writing poetry, so why not try a little healing through reading poetry?