It’s not forever but
we never sought
this dull endeavor
of none and null
and staying put
alone, six feet apart
to wash our hands
and banning hugs
behaving well and hope
that others do as well.
It’s been a year
of nought and nil
and lacking thrills
of binging cook-book shows
and learning skills
to bake, to cook and
making sauerkraut,
to count each step
convert to days, to weeks, to months.
A year is not forever
but I hope that soon
this lingering in limbo
has passed
and we can meet again.
Frederick McCubbin
Today it’s almost a year since I last went to the office, and it’s been a weird year of change…
Linked to dVerse OLN.
March 4, 2021
Björn Rudbergs writings 
This is incredibly hard-hitting and poignant, Bjorn! It has definitely been difficult due to Covid ., so much has changed and so much is being yearned for by many.. I resonate with; “a year of nought and nil and lacking thrills of binging cook-book shows and learning skills to bake, to cook.” Hopefully the coming days will bear good news. 💝
It’s hard to believe it has been a year. I was talking about it with friends and family today. I even relocated twice and managed to travel a couple of other times but I have still found it dull and limiting at times! There have been lots of opportunities for growth but I think I would like to travel again now.
You r poem is filled with such longing Bjorn. Let’s hope we get this under control soon.
This is painful and poignant Björn. Like Saana I really feel the “year of nought and nil”. I also feel the very heavy weight of “this lingering in limbo”.
Hopefully before the year is out we will have gotten partway back to a new normal. ❤️
I know the feeling, a weird year of change indeed, Björn. I keep telling myself it’s not forever, but it does seem to be dragging on. My husband went back to work on Monday, after two months on furlough, and today I felt lonely again for the first time in ages, and I had trouble concentrating and writing, which is not like me at all.
I ache for the same, and that we can hold hands and share cocktails and sway in concerts. It seems like a dream this past life of togetherness.
Well stated. I share your hope.
Your poem is bang on, brother. Yet the light is brighter at the end of the tunnel; death is being pushed back, and 3 vaccines are being put in 2 millions arms per day. But it is not over yet, and a fourth surge is imminent as weak-willed and ignorant are relaxing too soon.
You write (speak) for millions, BR. And you do so exceedingly well. Thanks!
Can’t believe it’s been a year! Lovely flowing poetry.
Lingering in limbo….says it all
I like how you repeated the first line and added hope to it. We are living through times now that one day we will look back on and wonder how we managed it. Beautiful poem.
A long drawn out year, of adjusting to imposed solitude,
We can make it through this new normal, with lessons learned
Thanks for dropping by my blog to read mine Björn
Much💜love
You capture this so well. It has been a long, strange year. We’re so used to staying in–it will be weird to gather again. (Or get a haircut.)
Oh yes…’a consummation devoutly to be wished’ – (and thanks for choosing Freddy McCubbin’s painting for your image)
Geez!! A whole year full of “when on earth will this be over” It felt long!!. Well said Björn.
Pat
I think I am always going to associate anxiety and isolation to March thanks to this Pandemic.
It does indeed seem like “limbo.”
You’ve hit the “null” on the head here, Bjorn, captures in clever rhyme what we have been going through…JIM
I think you have portrayed it exactly! Limbo is a bit like ‘no man’s land’ for sure. It’s a funny old time/year/world.
You’ve expressed the dullness of suppressed socialization all too well.
Yes we have learned a lot this past year, especially about ourselves and how resilient we are. You have captured the feelings perfectly of a long year of doing the right thing and wondering what will come next and when.
“It’s been a year of nought and nil and lacking thrills,” I couldn’t have said it better! I wasn’t so bored as to make sauerkraut but I did cook some, haha! Mainly cookies.🥳🥳
I love how you used ‘but’ and ‘sought’ and ‘nought’, Björn. This piece just flowed off the screen.
-David
The new normal is beginning to be around for some time. The near future is getting further and further away and making things topsy-turvy. It is very real if one is contributing to the ever-growing number of unemployed. The vaccine provides hope but not just yet!
Hank
One of the biggest challenges in life is choosing what you have been handed.
Your poem spoke to me.
“we never sought
this dull endeavor
of none and null
and staying put”
I am so ready to be with the communities of people I miss and love. Thankful we can still write and share with each other line.
I hear you and know this resonates with many but frankly I find it hilarious that you’ve paired it with an artwork of a swaggie in our bush … our restrictions lifted sometime ago. Our lives have returned to ‘normal’ except for overseas travel. I’ve even been hugged twice, that was so weird. I don’t post much about it but I’ve been on trips, going to classes, running classes, we are free to wander anywhere in our vast country
Pray you all get through this okay
Yes. A year ago this week, I remember well. We are all now straining at the bit. Hopefully we’ll all come away with some insight as you’ve found in your poem.
Nicely done Bjorn! It is past time to get together again. The is really getting old! You said it so very well!
This hits really hard and it definitely is germane to, well, everything going on currently. It’s a horrible feeling being so isolated, withdrawn from physical touch and how it exacerbates us mentally. Eloquently penned!
You write so beautifully of this strange new world, hopefully not to linger–Exquisite, Bjorn!
This sounded like a prayer for normalcy. It’s coming.