Join The Dillydoun Review in celebrating National Poetry Month with

A Poem by Patrick Dunn

We stayed inside and scribbled down our thoughts
in lines of verse as strident as politics, as cruel
as children sensing a weakness in their prey.
That was how we passed the time: mostly alone.

In lines of verse, as strident as politics, and cruel,
We made up little songs, to sing in the shower:
That was how we passed the time, mostly alone,
or staring at a screen until the light burned our eyes.

We made up little songs to sing in the shower,
like a kind of lonely concert, better than silence
or staring at a screen until the light burned our eyes.
That’s the way the pandemic went, until it ended,

like a kind of lonely concert, breaking the silence
ringing an alarm in our brains, over and over:
That’s the way the pandemic went, until it ended.
A steady march from day to day, each the same.

Ringing an alarm in our brains, over and over:
like children sensing a weakness in their prey.
A steady march from day to day, each the same,
We stayed inside and scribbled down our thoughts.

Patrick Dunn is a professor at Aurora University, where he teaches linguistics, literature, composition, and creative writing. His poetry has been published in Poetry Sky and Fifth Wednesday Journal, among other places, and his book of poetry, Second Person, was published by Finishing Line Press. His writing has been translated into several languages, including Chinese, Russian, and Slovak. He lives in the Chicago suburbs, in a small house surrounded by an unkempt lawn, where he plays the piano (poorly but with great feeling) and cooks (reasonably well and with tremendous gusto).