Knock – Knock – who’s there? All the G’S outside our door, 1-5, popping away constantly! “wake up! put on masks! the time has come!īut beyond choking pollution, lungs fill with death,Ĭhanging day in, night out, dizzying times. Lock – down, protect the NHS, save lives, control the virus, social distance, stay alert, Phone charge leads are fibrous veinal columns:Ĭonnecting, reaching, formatting a virtual, The M25: a beating pulse, ventricles, a central pathway. Tarmac veins cast steely maze-like patterns A blood outlet.ĭrops plummet from airborne wings as they riseĪ bringing of nourishment, safety, scarlet-clad, In a frenzy of duty, service, long shifts.Ĭity airports heave with a throng of tourism –Įach department gate an exit. Nurses, doctors, registrars skittle towards pins Sacred hearts in the palms of its metal soul.Įach cubicle a tiny blood clot hiding drama, With this flippin’ ‘social bubble’ Catch a Virusįor better days ahead What if it’s just Nature?Ĭraved tourists to taste the city’s sweetest wares Recordings of these are included with the following contributions where we have them. Some of the other contributions were read at a Zoom session in Ledbury’s online Festival in July 2020. This poem was later made into a short film that is now on YouTube Thank you to everyone for their contribution. I have found these poems extremely resonant, and I hope you will too. Other ways of thinking about, or seeing, what is happening in this present time. Nonetheless, in reading these poems, I find reflections on, and insight into, my own experiences. I am aware, as many people are, that for people and places in the world, the challenges are huge and sometimes extremely harrowing, compared to my own. Though of course everyone’s individual experience of this situation is unique. These poems were written during Lockdown and the Coronavirus pandemic, at a time when it seemed the whole country, and in fact the whole world was going through the same crisis.
They read alongside poets who submitted to Ledbury Poetry Festival’s online call out. The event featured a fascinating selection of Lockdown inspired poems, including poets commissioned by LPF, Naomi Shihab Nye, Sarala Estruch, Suzannah Evans, Elaine Beckett and Kim Moore. On Sunday 5 July 2020 there was a Poetry of the Lockdown event as part of Ledbury Poetry Festival Online. Do you think that Laila was a strong character or a weak character? Why?Ĩ.Thank you to everyone who has submitted Lockdown poems. Do you think Jalil loved Mariam? Why? What did the three gifts he bequeathed her indicate?Ħ.
What sort of relationship did Mariam have with her mother Nana? Why did Nana hang herself when Mariam left to find her father Jalil?ĥ. What does she mean by that? What does that say about her life for her to teach her daughter that? Do you agree with that? How does Mariam and Laila endurance differ? How do each endure?Ĥ. Did you enjoy learning about Afghanistan and the political regime changes from the book?ģ. Did you like the literary and cultural reference? Did you want to find out more about the poem and Kabul?Ģ. The title of the book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, comes from the 17th century poem ‘Kabul’ written by Saib-e-Tabrizi.
“ One could not count the moons that shimmers on her roofs, Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.”
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