Note July 2023: This was the first poem in the Exquisite Quarantine series, written in February, just before life came to a screeching halt. It was part of an exercise I did with a group at my monthly creativity workshop. The instructions for everyone were to write four lines based only on the last line of the person who went before them; I wrote the first line. No rhyme or other structure was required. The first names of the participants are listed at the end of the poem.

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DAWN

Over the hills, the sun appears
Orange delight, aglow with life
Heralding the hope of a fresh start
A new dawn breaks.

And I see it all again
I look forward to night again
It hides all the ugly.

The mask can’t hide it all, though
Some starts to seep out like a
bit of silly putty in a mold and
looks a bit sick.

Love is an affliction!
But best not an addition
I’m not likely to fall again
Said the little red hen.

Life is running away from me,
I cannot reel it in.
What can the future hold,
Oh dear wren?

Wren, oh wren, sweet, sweet wren.
She had a bird-like figure
which explains the name her parents c hose.
But why didn’t they choose Robin? We’ll never know.

All we can do is move on, and look to tomorrow
The night will end when the dawn breaks
The light will shine and the fields sparkle
Morning always brings hope of a better day.

Except Monday mornings
Everybody hates those
When you woke up mourning
Wanting your alarm to enclose.

These people are so quiet
I think they are planning to kill me
There are enough of them
I think they could do it.

Absolute action will lead to satisfaction
Something so simple will never cripple
Calming airs and perfect pairs
Affairs that never cease.

THE POETS
April, Aprille, Chloe, Ian, Jeff, Peg, Curtis, Laura, and Jennifer

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This Exquisite Collaboration Project is based on the Exquisite Corpse, a technique created by Surrealists in the early 1900s, in which participants add to a work with no one seeing what the other participants contributed. My goal is to encourage non-writers and artists to embrace their creative selves in a safe, supportive, “you can’t fail” environment. What began as a way to maintain some sort of connection with other people during the early days of the Covid lockdown has continued to unite strangers from around the world in creative collaboration.