Poems by Pauline Byrne Posts

Dublin City Library Wants Us To Show And Tell
If Living Life Under Lockdown
Is For You A Living Hell
Or Has It Become A Joy To Encounter
Each And Every Day
As The Pace Of Life Has Slowed Down
In Every City And Town
Are You One Of Our Frontline Medic
Who Battles Away Each Day
Fighting For Each Life, You Manage To Save
Stopping Another From An Early Grave
While Sitting With The Ones Who Are Too Far Gone
Have You Lost A Loved One, Grieving, Left Counting The Cost
Has Your Employment Gone And May Never Come Back
What Games Have You Played With Your Young
Disguising Fear As Fun
How Your Kitchen Table And Your Sitting Room Floor
Is Now Being Used To Forge Bonds
Make Precious Memories That Will Live On
If You Have To Cocoon
Do You Feel Safe
Or Like A Caterpillar
Have To Struggle Through
These Accounts And So Much More
They Want Us To Submit
In Letters, Emails, Photos, Homemade Art
Whatever Way You Do It
While Living Together Or Apart
How You Really Feel
What You Are Doing To Survive And Thrive
In This Pandemic Time, In Lockdown Covid 19
How We Live Through This
The Good, The Bad, The Happy, The Sad Times Spent
Will Be Captured, Recorded And Saved For All Time
Internalized Behind Glass
Our Stories Told, Our Voices Heard By Many, Long After We’ve Past

©Pauline Byrne 2020

website www.aguidinglight.ie
Fackbook page A Guiding Light

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Dublin City Library Is Putting Out A Call
As They Are Creating A New Archive For Us All
They Want To Hear From You
How You Are Doing
How Life Is For You
What Your Experience Is Of Living In Lockdown During A Pandemic
Did You Panic
They Are Looking For Daily Accounts, What Works For You, Getting You Through
How You Are Surviving And Living Through These Troubled Times
A Time Of Unprecedented Change
Your Story To Tell For Future Generations To Know
How We Survived And Lived To Tell Our Tale Of Woe Or Of Joy
How We Managed
To Turn This Around And Forced The Virus To Go To Ground
While We Waited For A Vaccine To Be Found
How We Answered Irelands Call
When A Country Comes Together
For The Greater Cause Of All
When Our Backs Were To The Wall
The Part We Each Played Will Be Recorded In A Historic Archive
Our Memories Will Be Preserved And Kept Alive
For Our Children’s, Children’s, Children
To See, To Learn To Hear
That Even Though At Times We Felt Real Fear
We Stood Together, United, Yet Apart
With Grace In Our Hearts.

©Pauline Byrne 2020
website www.aguidinglight.ie
Facebook page A Guiding Light

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We Are Clearing And Weeding And Seeding
As Never Before
Like Our Grandparents Generation
Where Life Lived Behind Their Back Door
Their Gardens Were Full And Bloomed With Life
Each And Every Manner Of Vegetables, Fruits Plants And Herbs
Grew There
From Their Toil, Effort And Strife
They Even Had Plenty
With Their Neighbours To Share
A Head Of Cabbage, A Bunch Of Carrots, Potatoes Pulled From The Earth
Sustained Them Throughout Their Lives
Kept Them Healthy In Body, Mind And Soul
Helped To Keep The Doctor At Bay
They Were Our Organic Farmers At Best
Knew When To Let The Earth Work And When To Let It Rest
They Took Their Time To Produce Their Best
Nature Took Care Of The Rest
So As We Watch The Fruits Of Our Labour Grow
As We Marvel At Life’s Miracle As It Shows
A Tiny Shoot That Took Root Deep In The Ground
We Now Get To Smell The Flowers Planted By Our Own Hand
We Find Ourselves With Extra Time To Spend Meditating And Contemplating Our Life
Our Way Through All This Worry And Strife
In The Best Way We Know How To Do
So Let Nature And The Essence Of Our Own Nature Come Through
Teach Us, Show Us How, And What To Do
Let Go Of The Reins
Let Go Of The Fear
It Is Not In Our Control
The Virus Is Here
But The Role We Choose To Play
The Way We Choose To Act
Will Determine How We Wìll Eradicate This Curse And The Sense Of Fear It Brings
So Stand Your Ground
Stand Firm, Together Apart, Stronger
Knowing That Your Efforts And Sacrifices Heartfelt Are Not In Vain
Are Helping To Save Lives
Stopping The Pain
Finding The Gain
The Gift, The Present Disguised As Loss.

© Pauline Byrne 2020

website wwwaguidinglight.ie

Facebook page A Guiding Light

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Our Parks, Beauty Spots, And Beaches Are Overflowing
With People Flaunting Social
And Physical Distancing Rules
Going Round In Groups Of More Than Four
The Majority Of Us Are Trying And Doing Our Best
To Get To Phase Two,
A Safer Place For Me And You
Why Do You Think And Act Like These Rules And Guidelines Do Not Apply To You ?
What Gives You The Right To Carry On Like You Choose To Do
In A Democratic Society
The Majority Has The Say
In A Pandemic It Appears The Minority Chose To Stray
We Need You To To Stick To The Rules
To Do What’s Right For The Good Of All
Before This Deadly Disease Takes Hold,
Takes Flight Again
And Travels,
Finding Hosts Among Our Young, Our Most Vunerable And Our Old,
And The Story Will Have To Be Told Of How We Managed Together
To Flatten The Curve
Stop The Spread Of This Deadly Dread
Only For The Few To Make Life Worse
By Bending And Breaking The Rules And Guidelines Set Down To Save Lives
By Acting Irresistible,
Why Act The Fool,
Undoing All The Good That Has Been Done While
We Have Come So Far Together
So Go Out And Meet Up With Loved Ones And Friends, Oudoors
Stick To The Rules Like The Majority Can
In Groups Of Four, No More
Stay For A While And Then Move On
Making Space For Others
To Spend Much Needed Time With Their Family And Friends Too
If We Care, We Share, Be Fair
We Will All Get There In The End
For If A Second Wave Comes Round The Bend
Our Frontline Medics Just Emerging From The War
Will Question What Was This All For
As They Will Have To Start Again
The Battle For Lives Won And Lost
Fought From Hospital Beds
We Will All Have To Count The Cost
For Those Who Choose To Break The Rules
The Price We Will All Have To Pay
In Heartache And Pain
Will Not Go Away For Many A Day
Dont Jeopardize What We Have Managed To Sustain
Dont Make Us Have To Start Again.
When We Answered Ireland’s Call
We Are Doing It Together
One For All

© Pauline Byrne 2020

website www.aguidinglight.ie

Facebook page A Guiding Light

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Home Schooling As Such Has Become The New Way To Learn And Teach
Pushing Mams And Dads Into New Roles
Some Felt That Were Out Of Their Reach
Parents Became School Teachers Overnight
In Charge Of Their Children’s Education Needs
Trying To Get It Right
They Have A Golden Opportunity, For Some To Spend Precious Time With Their Daughters And Sons Now In Their Full Care
Opening Up Their Minds To Lifes Possibilities
Teaching Them Life Skills That Will Stand The Test Of Time
Teaching Them How To Care For Themselves And Each Other, Body, Mind And Soul
An Opportunity To Spend Down Time With Family, No Friends Allowed
Face To Face Contact, Hugs And Kisses Galore
Not To Be Taken For Granted
This Wonderful Gift
That Many Of Us
Can Only Hold As A Wish
As We Spend Our Time, Days And Month’s Without Them
Missing Our Children And Their Children’s Touch, Hugs And Kisses
We Long For So Much
Value This Time Spent Round The Table For Meals
Check In With Each Other
How The Day Has Been
They Became Our Frontline Carers For Their Young In Their Care At Home
Keeping Them Safe
From Harm
Disguising Fear As Fun
Through Playing Games, Teaching And Learning New Skills
As They Play Their Part
Protecting Them From All Ills
Thank You Mam And Dad For A Job Well Done
With Love And Gratitude From Your Daughters And Sons.

©Pauline Byrne 2020

website www.aguidinglight.ie

Facebook page A Guiding Light

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Our Frontline Workers In Our Local Shops 

Answered Our Call

Give Credit Where Credit Is Due

They Knew What To Do

To Keep Their Doors Open Wide, Risking Theirs And Their Families Lives

To Keep Us Supplied With Daily Needs

Kept Shelves Stocked Up With What Is Required To Keep Us ,Our Loved Ones And Our Homes Clean And Safe

From This Deadly Disease That Lives In Our Wake

For Some It Became A Daily Chore

To Take A Breath , An Escape From The Monotony Of Being At Home, Alone 

They Quickly Became Our Delivery Folk

Knocking On Doors

A Human Contact From The World Outside

A Breath of Fresh Air 

For Those Who Are Cocooning Inside  At Home, Some Alone

So As Our Commercial World Opens Up Again

As It Will Do

Let Us Not Forget Our Local Shops In Every City And Town

Who Became Our Lifeline 

When The Chips Were Down

When Everywhere Else Was Out Of Our Reach

The Important Part They Have Played For Us

Keeping Us Fed and watered, Without A Fuss 

So Let’s Give Back,

Pay Forward Economically To Our Local Stores

For Without Them Life Could Have Been More Difficult When Lived Behind Closed Doors

© Pauline Byrne 2020

website aguidinglight.ie 

Facebook page 

A Guiding Light

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An Appeal To Our Young Folk

This Is No Laughing Matter

This Is No Joke

This Is Very Real

When You Go Outside To Visit With Friends Three No More

Please Observe Social Distance Rules

They Are Here For All Of Us

To Keep Us Safe From Harm

We Know And Understand You Have Not Seen Them 

 For What Feels Like An Eternity  To You

You Really Missed Them

We Missed Our Friends Too

But We Are Staying Apart, Together 

This Shows Them That We Care

Please Don’t Go Round In Social Groups

It’s not Like Before

Joined At The Hip

Stuck Together Like Glue

This Is Not What We Need You To Do

We Need You To Be Brave And To Behave In A Caring Way

Keeping Your Friends At Arms Length

Is Alot To Ask, A Big Sacrifice To Take

But We Ask It Of You

To Help Save Another’s Life

Is The Best Sacrifice You Can Make

We Need You To Act Wise Beyond Your Years

For All Our Sakes

We Need Your Help And Your Support Too

To Get Us Through To Phase Two.

© Pauline Byrne 2020

website  aguidinglight.ie 

Facebook page  A Guiding Light

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Phase One Begins

D Day Is Here

The Day Our Country Starts To Normalize Its Sense Of Fear

As We Start To Take Back Little By Little 

What Is Within Our Control

Our Numbers Are Down In Every City And Town

To Ease Restrictions Is The Way To Go

We Now Have A Roadmap

A Direction To See Us Through

A Well Laid Out Plan To Follow For Me And You

This Depends On Us, Getting It Right

Doing What’s Being Asked Of Us

To Hold Firm, Stay The Pace

It’s For All Our Sakes,

 How To Stay Ahead Of The Race

For Until A Vaccine Has Been Sourced 

We Will Have To Stick The Course

Try To Put Our Fears And Our Anxieties To One Side

And Start To Live Again Outside

Not Like Before But The Best Way We Have Learned, To Do, To Be

While Staying Safe Inside

This Is No Easy Ride

This Will Be Hard To Contemplate, To Navigate 

We Will At Times Feel We Are Going Round The Bend

The Queues For Everything Will Seem To Have No End

So Let’s Take Our Time

Take It In Our Stride

Breath In The Fresh Air

Look Up At Our Clear Noiseless Skies

And Remind Ourselves How We Have Survived This Deadly Curse

While It Was Doing Its Worst

So Let’s Pause,And Celebrate Our Cause

We, Ireland’s Own By Staying Home

Is Showing Our Strong Willed Determination And Our Resilient Strength Is Seeing Us Through

Now Go Do Your Best

Stand Up To This Testing Phase, 

An Act Of Faith

Let’s Show This Virus It Will Have Nowhere To Go 

No More Hosts, 

A No Show.

© Pauline Byrne 2020

website  www.aguidinglight.ie 

Facebook page A Guiding Light

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We Now Have A Road Map, A Plan

As Our Country Re-Opens 

An Ease On Lockdown

As We Walk Outside 

Apart Yet Together

Hand Washing Etiquette To Be Maintained

Face Covering Required In Crowded Places, On Transport And In Public Places

Going For A Shop This Is Strongly Recommended Too

I Do This From Me To You

An Act Of Protection To Help You To Stay Safe

I Do This With Social Grace

Social Distance Is Here For Now

We Can Connect In A Group Of Four, No More

We Are So Excited For The 18th To Come

It Is Like Waiting For The Starting Gun

No Physical Contact To Be Made, Smiles Allowed 

No Social Hugs Can We Take

We Are Doing It For All Our Sakes

Just Catching up, Delighted To See Each Other In The Flesh

Not Through WhatsApp Or Zoom, Connected In A Room

But In Real Life

This Plan Can Only Succeed 

If We Stick To The Rules And Guidelines Laid Down

And Not Be Tempted To Visit Each Others Homes Or Towns

Stay Outdoors As Much As You Can

Savour Each And Every Moment Spent In The Company Of Loved Ones And Friends

We are Doing This Slow

Taking This Step, Easy As We Go

It Is All In Our Hands

Our Fate Depends On Us Getting It Right

We Don’ Need Fuss

This Is All Going To Take Time And Patience

This One Is On Us

We Are All Only Learning

How To Live This Way

So Spare A Thought, A Kind Word To Say

To One Who You Know Is Struggling With This Today

We Wont Always Get It Right

But We Are Doing It To Win The Fight

For The Right To Live Life On Our Terms, As Much As We Can 

We Hold Firm For Every Child, Woman And Man

© Pauline Byrne 2020

website aguidinglight.ie 

Facebook page

A Guiding Light

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