THE GERMANE

THE GERMANE

Covid now, like a wall, has become a kind of frame

Or place for projection. And onto it, new contagions

Have as far as I can see assumed form. For mental

Health has declined and like John Updike’s famous

Quote on fame, eaten faces; this leprosy’s the new

Virus that has grown and warped our indoors.

Or perhaps I should say our insides, as we have

Started to go through the motions of our former lives,

These impressions are like a bad ventriloquist’s act

Whose lips move. We seem to know what do but are

Suffering from both the effects and the reasons, so

Hiding at home remains easy as the strength used

To deal with this increasingly becomes something

Else we must prove. Meanwhile, the deceptions

Go on and the mixed messages murder language,

As each day brings violation of the most unholy kind

To God’s world. Or, to whoever made it, or, who,

Has since taken it over, whether they be cosmic

Kings of chaos, the Devil at large, or shit hurled

At the fan that stills air, stopping the oxygen sent

To save us, and amputating our limbs while we’re

Reaching, or walking towards some past care.

It reminds me of Werner Herzog’s great film,

Land of Silence and Darkness, in which

The strength of the protagonist Fini Straubinger

A blind and deaf woman helped raise the standard

Of what an actual human being could be. But then

The blind and deaf always do, alongside the disabled.

It is only us, the enabled who seem to falter and fail:

Fuck the free. Or, rather what we think freedom is,

Or was. As this isn’t. We have been blinded

To whatever it is that’s gone on. And our so called

Leaders move lips, while falling deaf to our shouting.

Revolt finds its chorus and yet they continue to sing

Their dark song. In the Dark Times, Brecht said,

Will there be singing? Yes, there will. Of the Dark Times.

And so these three Germans encapsulate the germane.

But nothing is ever quite what it seems. Herzog is a

Bavarian by origin, and Brecht retained his co-authors,

Only Fini it seems kept her frame. In Herzog’s film

We witness her dignity and compassion. We see through

Her blindness some unrevealed source of light. This week

Past I’ve been hurt by several people. I have spent the days

Within stasis as I try to close my eyes and ears to each blight.

Our mental health slides as we struggle to remain and remember.

The beasts claim and claw at each other, but it will only be

Through concentration that we will conquer and scale each

Fresh fear. And so, I ruminate, meditating on understanding,

While calling out for compassion and a tender touch,

A friend’s tear.

David Erdos July 3rd 2020

For more poems from David Erdos visit The Corona Diaries collection 

David Erdos is an actor, writer, director with over 300 professional credits. He is a published poet, playwright, essayist and illustrator. He has lectured on all disciplines in theatre and film for leading performing arts colleges, schools and universities around the world. His books include EASY VERSES FOR DIFFICULT TIMES, THE SCAR ON THE CLOUD, OIL ON SILVER, NEWS FROM MARS, CHANGING PLACES WITH LIGHT (penniless press) and BYZANTIUM with the photographer Max Reeves. He is a contributing editor for The International Times and maker of documentaries all over the world. David’s work has been acclaimed by many leading figures including Harold Pinter, Heathcote Williams, Alan Moore, Andrew Kotting, Chris Petit and Iain Sinclair in whose recent book THE LAST LONDON, David features. He can be reached at David.erdos@sky.com.

David Erdos

©    David Erdos has asserted his moral rights as author of his work and has full copyright.