Masks, Birds, Love and More: Poems for the Pandemic

By Gloria Bernstein

This book started as a book of poetry about the human condition during the Pandemic. lt grew into
an inclusive view of our lives. Nine chapters encompass masks, grief, isolation, love, bird-song, life and
death. lt is about our physical identity, loneliness and loss and seeking comfort in family, friends and
nature. The simple act of 'ant-watching' can serve as a distraction from the tedious work on Zoom. lt is a
book about the Pandemic, before and after, the simple and profound effect it had on our lives. We could
not forget our history, our daily lives and all the things that make us happy and life worth living. We
found we had the resilience and strength to cope with the challenges of new political upheavals and
fears. Despite our covered faces our eyes shown with life and hope.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669826439

Book preview

MASKS, BIRDS,

LOVE AND MORE

POEMS FOR THE PANDEMIC

Gloria Bernstein

Copyright © 2022 by Gloria Bernstein.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 05/26/2022

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

842864

CONTENTS

1 Masks

2 Other Masks, Other Places, Other Times

3 Contemplating Recovery

4 Remembering History

5 Everything in Order

6 Watching Birds and Insects

7 Ant Watching and Other Pandemic Pursuits

8 Growing Up

9 Teenage Poems

This book is dedicated to:

Betty A. Bernstein-Zabza

1

MASKS

DOORS

When one door closes

it shuts with a bang

another door opens

things fly in

yellow birds and bats.

I sit in the house

with my yellow mask

my face is covered

to birds and bats

the door opens and shuts

with a bang, and

there is nothing to say.

One door opens another

closes, my face is covered

with a yellow mask

my eyes are shut

bats fly in and bats fly out

there is nothing to say

to the door that opens

to the door that shuts

with a bang.

A RISK

Age has crept in

old and sneaky.

I am anonymous

even without a mask nobody looks

my identity a number on a card

the mask a comfort,

who knows, I may be beautiful

people stop and look, but

that never happens

the mask hides a mystery

I yearn to rip it off

take that deadly risk, but

have no courage to expose

what is hidden there.

WEAPONS

I started with the basics

sticks and stones

then I let my nails grow

but cut them to the skin

the look of claws

betrayed the urge to use them.

Sharpened to a point

useless as weapons

the enemy unseen dangerous

contagious deadly

and you know as well as I

see it in my eyes

how fragile life is

how frightened I’ve become.

I REMEMBER WHEN

I used to have a face

didn’t like it much but

it matched others, not

a bird or beast with horns

but a nose, slanted grin

spotted skin over bones

man-in-the-moon, Medusa.

Not scarred by pestilence

mutilated ghastly repulsive,

but human, forgotten

exterior definitions

how I looked, ashamed

I didn’t love

what was covered there

now, desperate to rip away

that mask, see what is hidden

oh, not some alien skinless

thing, but God in heaven,

could it be,

a thing of beauty?

SOME KIND OF COLOR

A shaft of sunlight

on my bed intrudes, pink

flowers drink water

the color of pain.

I am not in the mood

for bright, grief has affected

my sight, swamp brown

musty green, some kind of

yellow, I know it, smell it

feel it ooze out a bit onto

the bedcovers. I remember

lingering in the