The following is a poem. This piece is part of a series collecting the experiences of researchers during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Laughter in a time of COVID-19
by: Reece Dawson
My neighbours must think I am strange,
hearing full belly laughter and giggles as the quiet engulfs.
To the left, incremental music
To the right, nothing
Above, jumping jacks
Beyond my entrance,
banging of doors greeting hello and goodbye
as their masters no longer touch.
Watching our planet
Nature slowly rebounding from the infections and loss we caused
Guffaws at the fair play as they are no longer caged and trampled.
Sitting on surfaces within walls
Isolated from my pride
Yet chortling with a stomach filled with memes,
gifs,
inspired music,
social media comments,
and creativity
borne out of coping for this beasts’ harshness.
Laughing at
dancing to
beats not realized by Belcalis [Cardi-B] the Wizardess
but engendered by
and in her revelation of fear and raw truth.
Feeling wrong for dancing,
but being blessed to be able to.
Feeling shame for laughing,
but being happy that I can.
In the uncertainties of it all
it’s extraordinary,
finding joy in this isolation.
Sincerely wishing that neighbours could hear
the belly-filled laughter and chuckles
as the quiet envelop days into the night.
No longer wondering about the thoughts of others
as I drop a pebble in the symphony of silence
because the least I can do
in the moments that ripple then fade
is own my laughter in the face of the mortal world’s new enemy
a seemingly temporary fixture in our lives,
yet an instructively destructive new Master.
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