By Zita Perera Subasinghe
He’s an adult, yes, it’s true
He came of age, on New Year’s Day
A perfect day, yet marred by a thing or two
Covid, Lockdown, No work, No pay
He is still a very proud young man
Sporting his name to World and its brother
2021 does whatever he can
He doesn’t need permission of mother
He’s there, wherever you look
Paper, Greeting card, calendar
Every letter, poster, book
But he’s virtuous, won’t philander
‘All dressed up and nowhere to go’
Is our fresh young Twenty twenty-one!
By December he will know
Fun’s over, festivities gone!
Zita
ReplyDeleteThank you. A thoughtful and thought provoking poem of our time. For many of us retired after having fulfilled our commitments it may be less of a problem but I too am sad for the young - schools, universities and jobs have come to a standstill.
Let us hope the vaccines will bring us relief and return us to the way we were.
I miss the London Reunion and the many who gathered together to recall and reminisce and also socialise. I wish we can meet again this year as I have not seen you and Joe for so long. Meanwhile take care and stay safe. May God Bless you both.
I agree with you, Nihal, that to the younger generations the present situation is unbearable. I remember our Batch reunion in January last year, and how much we enjoyed chatting with one another amidst a lot of goodies for our taste buds to enjoy. Joe laments about not being able to meet you and others as we used to do. Well, that's what I suppose we tell '2021' off!
DeleteAnother lovely poem in her recognizable style, by Zita. She does have a knack for this type of four line verse in “abab“ style. Keep them coming Zita, we will never tire of them, of course we are all re-tired now which makes it easier!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mahendra! I always believe in sending 'my bit of nonsense' as I prefer to call it, as we have this lovely platform of our Batch Blog which Lucky and you maintain with so much dedication. We are so lucky! Yes, Lucky!
DeleteZita
ReplyDelete."All dressed up and nowhere to go" how frustrating at twenty one.Hope the vaccine cures the situation.Nice poem.
It's true! I get this complaint from so many about how hard it is to have time hanging on one's hands but unable even to visit one's best friend. It's a lesson for us all to appreciate our freedom when we have it and make the most of what life offers us.
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ReplyDeleteNice poem Zita in your unique style Thank you. But I do hope that by December the Fun and Festivities will begin ( and not end as stated in your poem ) because by then we have beaten the virus !
ReplyDeleteNice poem Zita in your unique style. Thank you. But I do hope that by December the Fun and Festivities will begin and not as suggested by your poem because by then we have beaten the virus !
ReplyDeleteSuri, I am so happy that all of you in Sri Lanka were a lot better off than us as everyone over there took the Virus seriously and acted immediately with drastic measures. So you were able to see the back of it or at least control it to manageable levels. The rest of the world can take a good example from Sri Lanka!
DeleteI think what Suri meant was December 2021 (and not 2020). Zita also was talking about 2021.
ReplyDeleteEverybody is expecting that the vaccine will solve the Covid problem and that the world will come back to normal soon. I had so many e-mails from friends in the US and UK saying so.
Anyway. congratulations Zita for penning these beautiful lines.
Thanks, Lucky, for your kind words. I truly appreciate it.And I am really glad to see you back!
DeleteI would like to say, about 'time hanging on one's hands' that it is not the case in many countries especially in the South East Asia. My relatives in Sri Lanka are quite happy with the present situation and so it seems to be even in Canada and life goes on, I believe, just the same. However, let's hope that this Covid era will end soon and I think we'll all be thankful to be busy, to receive visitors, go shopping and do many of the things we took for granted.
It's a pity that some of us are confused with time and space.Time will come when the nature takes its course.Certainly not by supernatural,powers.
ReplyDeleteHi I am not confused. Zita' poem is about 2021 and the last stanza says " by December he will know... The fun is over the festivities gone. ... The "he" refers to 2021 !
DeleteSumathi, I would like you to enlarge on what you said as it is very important! You have a mind that reaches further out than that of most of us. I would really like you to say a few more word to illustrate the point you are making. Please do even if it means a separate article!
DeleteI can not express my opinion about some of the Religions that advocate annihilation of "Idol worshiper and non believers of the Creator,in public domain,and should you wish to know my views,it has to be an encrypted message.
DeleteThe poem is most certainly about 2021 as Suri and Lucky said.
ReplyDeleteMahen
ReplyDeleteI agree the poem referred to 2021,the restrictions in UK in 2021 were frustrating to 21 year old kids.
Zita
ReplyDeleteYour Poem is wonderful.You are a talented Poetess no doubt.I just don"t know how you coin the words to rime so well. Keep it up. Chira
Chira, I call what I send in 'my bit of nonsense'. Poetry is a serious speciality but it permits simple people like me to take advantage of it and write what comes to the mind! Thanks for your comment Chira!
DeleteZita, Thank you for this poem. "All dressed up and nowhere to go" just about sums up my life! I have a lot of hope for "2021" though.
ReplyDeleteWe'll see...
Shops restaurants and pubs are shut
ReplyDeleteCant hug my family - social distancing
Cant see friends - there is a lockdown in place
No cricket at Lords
No travel abroad
But it all will be over to get back to normal life!!!!
Who says that? ---- the W.H.O
That's the only thing we can laugh about!!!
Hey,that's great, Nihal! Who says that? WHO!
DeleteAnd I am glad you agree with me that life is so restricted at a time which should be one of socialising, visiting family, having people round for a meal and all the things we take for granted. Do you remember how nice it was for our batchmates to meet up in London exactly a year ago? And we have no idea when that sort of meeting can happen again. Our Blog does a great job in letting us meet 'virtually'. Let's hope many more will keep in touch this way.
Zita and Srianee
ReplyDelete.At times in my youth,with no lockdown in Colombo ,particularly on a saturday night,I experienced the feeling "All dressed up and nowhere to go" and no one to go with either.I felt sorry for myself and sang the ballad "Everybody is going out and having fun,oh lonesome me".At other times The Cocoanut Grove and Akasa Kade was full of fun.
I agree with you, that in Colombo,it can be quite lonely at a time like the New Year when places like Akasa Kade are deserted. I remember one New Year's eve party at Galle Face Hotel many years ago and I can say I have never been to a livelier party anywhere else I have visited in the world!
ReplyDeleteRajan, did you work in the City of London Maternity Hospital in London in 1971 or 1972? When I worked there as well as at the Whittington Hospital as a SHO in Neonatal Paediatrics in 1972, I came across a book donated by you. One Dr. Pallewela and Dr. Phillips were the obstetricians
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