Lockdown Diaries Nominee#9- Lockdown Diaries by Michelle Ramalingam

The renowned poet Robert Frost once wrote that poetry provides “a momentary stay against the confusion of the world.” At the current time, considering the conditions the global community are experiencing, I think it’s safe to say that many would agree with the distinguished writer’s words. In such a short period of time, the population, once dancing with livelihood, was condensed into their respective dwellings and consequently confined to four walls. Enter lockdown.

In accordance to Frost’s previously mentioned advice, I thought to myself that perhaps the application of ideologies detailed with the aforementioned author’s works could suppress my fears relating to the pandemic. Hence, I turned to perusing his poems. Yet, the irony presented itself on a silver platter once I came across “The Death of a Hired Man”, then sequentially paged through to “Fire and Ice”.

Although I do appreciate the immense intelligence and thought behind each of his pieces, I personally feel that reading those specific works simply further perpetuated my negative feelings surrounding this lockdown. In addition, I found a similar outcome from Eavan Boland’s “Quarantine” and Franny Choi’s take on the phrase. My most significant takeaway from these poems was that this new phobia cannot be quelled.

Finally, it occurred to me that I was exclusively looking through collections made by the author to express their own feelings rather than through those intended to provide comfort or reinforcement. Therefore, I decided to interpret Mr. Frost’s advice differently; I would engage in poetic contemplation to cope with this newly implemented quarantine.

Quarantine. Quarenta, meaning forty. As in, the forty days of rain promised to Noaḥ ibn Lamech while he remained within his ark. Or the forty days Christ of Nazareth spent in the desert, alone. Or rather, the forty days ships in Venice from infected ports sat at anchor before landing.

They were all in quarantine as well. We are confined to four walls, not meant to roam, lest the sickness spread further. We obscure our faces, distancing ourselves from contact, difficult as it may be. The streets no longer bustle with life. We no longer exist as we used to. But we have bettered ourselves.

We continue to receive education through the aid of adaptive techniques. We scrub our palms with soap, finding security in known habits that are now of utmost value.
We smile at each other underneath our masks, standing six feet apart. We band together in tough times to stay strong; there is strength in numbers. We call, text, e-mail, tweet, post, write letters, and wave from our windows because nevertheless, we are still connected. Connected by circumstance and solidarity.
One earth remains as one.

ReachIvy.com organized an online blog/vlog competition to provide people the unique opportunity to share their lockdown stories using their creativity. The competition met with a fantastic response from participants across 4 continents, and our jury has handpicked the Top 50 entries from them for the Popular Choice Award 2020!

The above entry has been submitted by Michelle Ramalingam from the United States of America. She is a 14-year-old high school student. Kudos to Michelle for this beautiful piece!

Show your support and help Michelle win the contest by liking this blog post on all ReachIvy.com’s social media platforms!