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Ennui

By: 

Denisa

Pope

This poem came up during a writing exercise in December 2020, where the prompt was an object or food that we associated with lockdown. I realised I was eating more seeds and nuts than before the pandemic, and I wondered what my brain was craving for, the nutrients from these superfoods or the repetitive gesture of eating them. Or maybe both.

Ennui

 

Day after day

I eat peanuts.

Locked inside, I stare

Outside.

That place is a scary place

The sky shakes fluffy balls of disease

For us to inhale

The consequences of our own actions

Floating deadly in the air.

Maybe this way

We will finally have time to reflect

Upon our deeds

And we will reconnect

With our earthly seeds.

So, I stay inside

And eat peanuts

Count peanuts

Crunch peanuts

Munch peanuts

Watch thoughts passing

On the windows of my mind

Reflecting back

Countless of peanuts

Ubiquitous peanuts

Falling down my throat

Flowing through my veins

Salty, earthy taste

These hard, crispy, little balls

They don’t fall from the sky

They sometimes fall from the cupboard

Powdering

My mind

That found this unexpected ally

In its efforts to assimilate

Reality.

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