Oh. I coughed—instant poem
Oh, I coughed
Oh, I coughed. Twice. As you do. Need a drink of water. (So do you.) I wonder whether I'm anxious. I can't tell. Oh. I sneezed when I woke up. I always do. I do it well. Was it different? Was it deadly? I can't tell. Oh. You need me. You're lonely. You're stuck. I can tell. Dare I meet you? Where to meet you? Are you well? Oh, I see you with your mask on. Will I greet you or repel? But I need you and I trust you. All is well. ~ Rachel McAlpine Photo of autumn flowers: an imitation wild-flower field in the Botanical Gardens.
Wow, when I say instant I mean instant: I wrote this poem straight on to the screen changing barely a word. It took about ten minutes. And it is a poem, albeit super-simple. (So many full stops: they tell their own story.) Maybe tomorrow I’ll be mildly embarrassed by it. But now I dare to share.
It’s a good day when a poem writes itself. Don’t you agree? I think it’s obvious that when I cough (because my throat is dry) my first response is not to ignore it or have a drink of water. Instead I leap to the catastrophe all around us: omicron. You may be over it but here in New Zealand we are just getting acquainted.
My friend and I met at the Botanical Gardens and I don’t think either of us coughed once.
Photo of autumn flowers: an imitation wild-flower field in the Botanical Gardens.
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I love botanical gardens! I’m glad you got to meet your friend there.:-)
I can so relate to this poem.
I’ve just bravely been to the library, where the closest I was to a person was when the security guard checked my vaccine pass.
I can see where your priorities lie 🙂
Our frailties, fears and doubts are feasting in this pandemic. War and floods tragic. So glad you saw your friend, so glad you are not in lockdown. Hopefully just a few more weeks of this wave and your world will ease. Sending much love from Melbourne. Myra
True words. Thanks for your support, Myra
Rachel, as a Senior man, sneezing or coughing takes me in a different train of thought than poetry🥴. I was thinking you were going in that direction which would have been humorous 😉. I still enjoyed it. Nice job.
Well you sure had me laughing so the humor snuck in regardless.
Laughing, that does it, too😉.
Love stream of conscienceness writing. Good poem. Take care.
That’s it, stream of consciousness. Thanks
Love the poem. And the fullstops serve the purpose of the poem. Love the flowers too.
I love such Rapid Rhymes as these and they deserve to remain as they are, unedited and raw. I hope the cough is just a cough (and there is the first line of a poem!).
Rapid Rhymes is a far smarter label than instant poems. But then I might get distracted by rhyming.
There are times when rhymes don’t rhyme
so what d’ya call them then?
I curse when verse is so much worse
and so I start again!
Rhyme is sublime
Free verse is perverse?
That’s not what I think
I loved your poem. John and I have cringed when we coughed or sneezed in a public place. Today I have a scratchy throat, and it feels like it will develop into a full-blown cold. I will wake up tomorrow and wonder if Oh My Omicron has caught up with me.
I’m sure this super-alertness is not good for our mental health.
I get coughs and sneezes when I’m at home, but that’s because I’ve not been venturing out except when I need to, meaning more change for house-dust to affect me.
A builder told Alex – once I would cough to cover a fart, now I fart to cover a cough!
That could be dangerous…