Even in the Time of COVID

Even in the Time of COVID is a book of poetry I wrote as a tribute to my mother who perished from COVID-19 on November 27, 2020. It is about our lives during the pandemic.

In the months after lockdown of her nursing home, and prior to her death, we had many video visits, and I learned to play (single-handedly, lol!) a collection of tunes on a Celtic harp to entertain her. She had vascular dementia, and though I am thankful she remembered who I was until the end, we needed a fun way to interact. She had no short-term and essentially no long-term memory - except for music and songs. She so enjoyed listening to me play, and we also had some favorite sing-along songs she loved and remembered the lyrics to.

Thankfully she was asymptomatic for over a week after her positive test result (on Friday 13th) then suddenly declined. She was never intubated, and her final days were well attended by hospital and then hospice staff, both of which kept her well-medicated for comfort. 

In her final days our family was able to have extended video visits, during which she slept and we expressed our love and support for her and for each other. We held a video vigil during her final hours.

From all this comes the title for the poem I wrote the day after her death, which is also the title of the book. Here is that poem, along with a photo taken during the vigil in the hours before she died.


Even in the Time of COVID

You went peacefully
Even though it was
The time of COVID
When so many with it
Did not.
And we were able
To be with you
In your final days
Final hours
As you took those
Last
Faint
Final
Imperceptible breaths.
We watched
From our homes
As others cared for you
So kindly
So thoughtfully
So tenderly
And we had peace
Even in our sadness.
Family gathered together
Around the globe
To be with you
As you calmly
Gently
And with dignity
Slipped away.
 
If you would like to order the book, click here to purchase at Blurb. It is available in softcover, eBook, and PDF formats. You can see the table of contents and some of the other poems in the preview there.
 
Note: I also had two blog posts in addition to this page, on this poem:
Even in the Time of COVID
Welcome 2021 (Post
about my Mom's passing. It has a short bit of me playing harp.)

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