Pandemic Poems - APRIL 2020
Bio Note: I am an attorney in private practice in New York City. My wife and I have raised two daughters, four cats,
two dogs, and various other domesticated creatures over the past three decades. I formerly blogged at Patheos and now write
reflections and poetry at The Catholic Conspiracy. One of my poems was published in Bards Annual 2019 and another
recently selected for publication in an another anthology to be published in several months: Nassau County Voices in Verse.
Guardrails
It’s not always possible to see several steps ahead
We are often blinded long before we are given sight
And while memories formed tomorrow push us back to
yesterday, the guardrails built through human touch never
free us from today
Splendid Isolation
I can no longer hear you through this splendid isolation
Whether that’s purposeful on my part or consensual on yours makes no real difference
It’s not as if we had so much in common that we could get to know each other just by turning inward,
like those others you sometimes matched us up against
Today’s stark contrasts feel sharper than any kitchen knife and cut so much deeper
But rather than despair we choose forgetfulness
Leaving us only to wonder once again what this silence is all about
There Is No Time Left For Living
The days are softening, but the nights remain incomplete
Blurred lines, mixed up memories, long abandoned detours lie ahead
If yesterday never happened, tomorrow becomes just so much collateral damage
And once every breath needs to last a lifetime, there is no time left for living
Sometimes mutiny best serves the unnerved heart
©2020 Thomas Zampino
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It is very important. -JL