I'm continuing to make use of my one-a-day run during lockdown. I'm taking it steady given it's only six weeks since I broke my fingers and I don't want to risk another fall - so 2-3 kms at most. But it still brings joy. I wrote another poem last week, which touches on running, parkrun and other delights that we are having to put aside, hopefully temporarily. Hope it's appropriate to post it here. It's called:
Light Will Return
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One day,
We shall hug each other in the streets
Just as we did after the war.
One day,
Joyful runners will throng the parklands,
And build each other up
With cries of encouragement
And high fives.
One day,
Musicians will fill the streets with beautiful sounds,
And we shall listen, transported,
And toss coins of gratitude.
But today,
We must put aside for a while these delights
Apprehend what they meant,
Anticipate their rebirth
Today,
We must send affection waving at webcams,
And interact in two dimensions
And discover that cyberspace, too, is real.
Today,
Our sports are solitary forays on empty paths,
The pounding of one pair of feet, or the bicycle wheel’s whirring
Our competitors, virtual buddies known through an app.
Today,
Our songs are sung on YouTube
Our live music streamed from musicians’ homes,
Our dancing at two-metre distance.
But maybe, in this constrainment we can find joy,
In the reality of our connectedness
And in the knowing that light will return,
One day.