Three Poems by Maura Quinn
In this time of COVID, many artists are finding time to do something they love. One of those folks is Maura Quinn. She’s been part of Writers for Recovery for a long time, and is helping to keep a group going in Barre, VT during the quarantine time. I think you’ll really love her work. Thanks for sharing, Maura!
“The Difference Is”
by Maura Quinn
I'm struggling, between caring, and wanting to scream!
The difference is I don’t want to think I never had any control over which thing I do.
Then I THINK.
Anyway, how I was then...is not how I am now.
I am not that person.
Doubt speaks- 'Or am I?'
I desire to help others find and use their gifts. Empower them! Why do I desire this?
Is it born from my own experience of neglect?
Is it because I feel powerless at this time?
I see you. You have already shown your strength.
Am I lying to myself about that?
A benign denial
Because it is too awful.
Too ugly.
Too unjust.
To honestly and powerfully wish it had never happened.
Am I in the present; processing?
And do I find too much judgement?
I've BEEN judged. I KNOW the mindset.
And I throw it off like a blanket, or some iron-curtain of cruelty.
Oh! Is there nothing there?
Am I guilty of innocence?
“Everyone Wore Masks”
by Maura Quinn
And we stood six feet away. For some of us we just waved through the window of the house or car. I took to calling out “hello fellow humans” when I saw people. I even saw a face in the clouds wearing a mask. My wife and I had loads of fun trying to fashion masks out of Under Armour underwear. It looked like we were wearing burkas and it made me wonder what it would be like to do that all of the time. There is a certain solidarity when everyone is wearing a mask. Despite the distance, the shared bizarre experience that is life today ties us together. Political philosophy that requires everyone to have health care is sharply focused. The weakest link can kill you. It is not the deprivation of wartime with bombing and refugees. But inequity perhaps is coming into clearer focus.
“I Was Trying to Explain,”
by Maura Quinn
How I felt about this strange new world we exist in, to a friend today. Here we are, just being us. And a world responding to a pandemic descends. Everything, well ok, yes everything is different. And a bit confoundingly still the same. I’m breathing. I go to sleep. Wake up. I eat. I see and I feel but it is different because the world is having this very distinct collective experience. I know that this actually happens every day but to be so aware of it and to have such strange circumstances. Wear a mask. Disinfect everything. Don’t get too close. But I want to get close, I want the comfort of others and I get that. But from a distance now. On Zoom. Virtual comfort. And yet everything is so beautiful. So vibrant. Spring is still coming and the trees are budding. We are the odd man out.