Category: Poems

The Choice is ours

I wonder what the future holds
The climate is changing – or so I’m told,
In places far and near
We live in fear
Gone are the days
Of sweet summer haze
Breathe in the fog
Choke on poisonous smog.
You will no more
Survive the downpour,
Escape the bushfire,
Humanities funeral pyre.
We will destroy
A whole world of joy.
This is our fate
We don’t have long to wait
Using solutions already found,
What if we could turn things around?

(Alternatively, read from bottom to top)

This poem reflects the duality of choice – we can be victims of climate change, or we can choose to taken action. The two viewpoints are shown through two different ways of reading this poem. Inspired by Brian Bilston’s poem “Refugees”.

Coronavirus Poetry

A new kind of flu, Covid-19
Appeared on the scene, arrived at market.
At the start, it flew through the air,
Caused quite a scare, from the first sneeze.
Blame the Chinese, Corona-racism.
Please, wash your hands, self-isolate,
There’s been a spate, were you there, fraught?
You’re sure you haven’t caught, coronavirus?
Disinfect, cough into your arm,
Do no harm, don’t travel or fly,
Let it pass by; hard to ignore,
Bought out the store, corona-pandemic?
Corona-pandemonium.

This new type of coronavirus seems to be highly infectious and spreads rapidly. However, it is quite far from the deadliest new disease seen in recent years. The media hype certainly has not helped the situation, leading to some cases of “corona-racism” and other cases of panic buying, empty shelves and “corona-pandemonium”. The best we could all do is follow advice, use some common sense and not to get too blasé about the whole situation either.

Flatten the curve

In the first stanza, each line contains double the number of words of the previous, to show how quickly a virus can spread. In the second stanza, everyone is on board with trying to slow down the spread. Why is this important if the same total number of people fall ill? It gives everyone a better chance by not overloading resources and enabling more people to get the best care. Let’s all try to flatten the curve.

See more @mairipoetry on Instagram.

Communication

I texted you and called you
But you didn’t answer me
Maybe your phone is lost
Or ran out of battery

I wrote you a message
On WhatsApp and Facebook
Maybe you don’t use it?
At least that’s how it looked

I tried to like, follow and share
On Twitter and Instagram
A broken link, beyond repair
That really was a sham

I last saw you on YouTube
Your video was great
I commented, subscribed 
And shared it with a mate

Last time I went on holiday
I posted a postcard
Wanted to Skype you too
But the time difference was hard

I sent multiple emails
Trying to get you to respond
And even checked on Slack
(of that, I thought you were quite fond)

I tried so many times
To communicate with you
Yet you never once replied
What more could I do?

“Call me old fashioned
But one thing I won’t replace
Next time you want to chat
Try talking to my face.”

A poem about communication in the 2020s – with so many ways to communicate, sometimes we still manage to fail. This poem was literally inspired by me overhearing someone say “I texted you and called you” whilst I was walking past.

A reminder that, in this context, face-to-face communication becomes all the more valuable. (Also a reminder, that if you wouldn’t say something in person, perhaps you should think twice about it.)
Follow @mairipoetry for more content similar to this and dissimilar to this.

Assorted Shorts 1

A selection of assorted short poems, mostly about poetry and writing. @mairipoetry

One little Haiku
Thinking about what to write
I ran out of space

Haiku – in the strict sense, comprised of three lines, with 5-7-5 syllables. Bit challenging to say much in that amount of space.

When I don’t know what to say
I try to make words rhyme
It’s sometimes easier that way
(When I can find the time)

Increasingly I find the lines between poetry and quotations becoming rather blurred. Here I’ve attempted a rough definition:

What is the difference
Between a poem and a quote?

Poem: the author said it was
Quote: part of what they wrote

Palindromes can be read the same forwards and backwards. In honour of the second of February 2020, I attempted a palindromic sentence, although defining this as a poem is a bit of a stretch.

02/02/2020 – palindrome day

“Perhaps,” thought you, “-what is that word, for word-reflectable poetry? Palindromic!”
Palindromic poetry: reflectable word-for-word. That is what you thought (perhaps).

02/02/2020 is palindromic in both DD/MM/YYYY and MM/DD/YYYY formats – the first such day since 11/11/1111 and the last one until 12/12/2121.
So someone born on 02/02/2020 alive on 12/12/2121 would also have the palindromic age 101 years.

#First Post

I was too scared to use my voice
I was afraid of being heard
But I knew I had a choice
To share this my written word

What if you get online hate?
What if you receive abuse?
That’s a risk I’m willing to take,
To put these words to good use

Yet I waited for too long
To finally share my first post.
Just in case something went wrong,
Or what I then was scared of most:

What if no-one reads or cares?
What if they think I’m a joke?
The thought sent me into despair
Being afraid of other folk

What if then nobody likes me?
Will they notice I exist?
Will they see my poetry,
Or is it lost to the abyss?

What if the text is too long?
Will anybody read it all?
For although my words are strong,
I’m weaker with the visual.

The only way to know for sure
Is to go and try it out
Keeping my words true and pure
Let’s see what this world’s all about

Mairi Wallace

One of my first public poems on Instagram @mairipoetry
Starting out on this journey of making my poetry public, I found myself almost equally anxious about people’s reactions and getting no reactions. So to relieve some of these feelings, I will not put pressure on myself and will simply give this a go.

Brexit Day

After forty-seven years
There’ll be some tears
As we proceed to break up
Although we may cry
As we say goodbye 
Soon we will surely make up

This was a divorce 
That felt taken by force
In fact it was rather half-hearted.
Voting leave only just
It seemed that we must
Continue, and find ourselves parted.

We’ve left the EU
Technically overdue
Although nothing changed overnight
Just wait one more year
There are changes I fear
Some people already took flight.

Though a hole we will leave
In peace we believe
Not in messages shown on a bus
But in one sent afar
“This is our star,
Please look after it for us.”

Mairi Wallace

Some thoughts on Brexit, a poem to mark the UK leaving the EU.
This poem became my first instagram post @mairipoetry .