LifePoetry

Illness in the Time of Covid

Hi everyone – when I started posting here at the beginning of lockdown it was my intention to post every day or two, as much for myself as anything – to write and to connect with the world. I hadn’t reckoned on being ill.

Unfortunately, for ten days now I’ve been really poorly and mostly confined to bed, so writing has not been possible, even reading has been difficult at times. I am only just coming back to everyday life. I’m still feeling very tired, and a bit like I’ve been hit by a truck.

It was very anxiety provoking to be ill at this time, not just for me but also for my family. When you’re ill and barely able to get out of bed, inevitably you begin to wonder if it could be the virus (particularly as we now know of the many different forms it takes and the range of symptoms. ) The unknown becomes very troubling indeed.

I’m happy to say it wasn’t Covid, mild or otherwise (I took a test and it came back negative). I’ve since learned my editor in France is suffering very similar symptoms but has also tested negative. Best guess seems to be flu. Although how I acquired it when I’d been out of the house only once to the supermarket is a mystery.

Yesterday, for the first time in ten days I got dressed and sat in the garden for a bit, admiring the tulips I’d planted last autumn, and watching John, who looked after me so kindly, watering all the pots. Small things…

Here is a wonderful poem Lately I Am Capable of Only Small Things by Olena Kalytiak Davis – the title seems entirely appropriate to living in these time – it’s on Natalie Jabbar’s wonderful blog Live in the Layers

It’s good to be back…take care everyone

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