Poetry in a time of Pestilence: Perspectives on a Pandemic

Cast your mind back to January 2020 - the beginning of a new year, the start of a new decade. It all seemed quite promising. A welcome breeze of optimism blowing away the cobwebs, after the madness of Brexit and the chaos of the Trump administration had dominated the international headlines for at least the previous three and a half years. Then out of left field, the global pandemic struck. Everything changed, almost overnight, and it's still changing in a way that we have yet to fully comprehend. 'Poetry in a time of Pestilence' is a collection of poems that explore the diverse range of human emotions as experienced by many as a result of the carnage wrought on their lives and livelihoods by Covid-19. The pendulum swings in mood and temperament, the highs and lows, the hopes and fears, the darkness and the light, the sadness and the joy, to mention but a few. Despite each country, each continent experiencing slightly different realities in relation to the pandemic, there is a universal perspective shared by all humanity - a feature that resonates throughout this poetry collection.