It’s week 15 of the Paint Chip Poetry prompt, and the end of week 4 of many people in Oregon working from home because of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “we’re all in this together” more than once over the past few weeks. Imagine my surprise when that very phrase is what I pulled for our paint chip poetry theme this week!
It’s up to you whether you write on a pandemic theme or go a totally different direction. Perhaps you want to write about marriage and family life. That certainly warrants a “we’re all in this together” attitude. Or maybe you want to write about a jungle safari or an old-fashioned camping trip. The options are limitless.
Well, except they are limited by the fact that you need to use at least four of the following words or phrases: nest, champagne, corn maze, left field, gold medal, moonstone, and night.
My Poem
Here’s my poem. And as much as I’m already tired of talk of coronavirus and social distancing, some of these words just cry out to be in a pandemic-related poem.
Pandemic Blues
Life was plugging along
From here to there and home
Like a day in a corn maze
Trying to make my way
Then out of left field
Came the news of a crisis
This time it’s not Isis
But a microscopic virus
Word went out to isolate
Like birds in a nest
To take time and rest
But work at home if you can
For some it is now dark as night
Stuck faraway without a flight
Others sent home with no job
Or lost a loved one and sob
Some turn to moonstone
Seeking strength and new dawn
A solution to the chaos
The sadness and fear and loss
There will be a gold medal
For the one with the mental
Aptitude to create a vaccine
Or a cure for this crazy disease
I’d like to think when it’s over
I’ll invite friends for a stopover
We’ll drink some champagne
To celebrate or drown the pain
But still I know for sure
Life changed will endure
We’ll never quite be the same
I’ll still call on God’s holy name
Your Turn
Okay, it’s your turn to be creative. Find a use for at least four of the prompt words to describe something we’re all in together. Post your poem in the comments, or post it on your own blog and put a link in the comments.