A Meditation on COVID-19

I took up meditation many years ago and have practiced it on and off since the early seventies.  In a deepened state of meditation one's hearing become more acute, picking up sounds that are normally muffled by the day-to-day humdrum of everyday life.

My country is in its second week of compulsory lock-down thanks to the ravages of COVID-19.  While this is an inconvenient measure, most agree that it is for the better in defeating the coronavirus. And I should add, most are abiding by the rules set down by the government.

A real plus of the lockdown is that  the sounds of nature are once again to the fore; the call of magpies in a far away tree, the rustle of autumn leaves as I talk my morning constitutional.

It is not until comparative silence reigns that one fully realises what has been lost.

If you had an opportunity as a child to spend time in the country with friends, you realise how lucky those on farms, who are communing with nature on a daily basis, really are. They do not face a daily barrage of city noise pollution.

So, while this virus might keep us pinned to our homes and immediate surrounds, lets make the most of the quiet while it lasts.

COVID Capers

The couple doing their stretches in a garage
converted to a make-shift gym
dog walkers on a leash smile and wave
at me, or was it him?

The great silence.

Can you hear it? 

Still

Falling leaves cushion the tread
of the morning walk
A pile of books long stored
and seldom read

Buckle in for the long term
the world as we knew it is no more
its nature's way of settling the score.