Heartache and Hope

By Birch Moon Press, Rachael B, Maddy Bennett and 11 more

Grief but not as we've known it. A bird in a cage and a magical wishing horse. Panic attacks, supermarket trips and high expectations. Sex, love and loneliness in solitude. Envisioned futures worth hoping for?

 

Sometimes claustrophobic, sometimes sad and sometimes wistful, this collection of poetry and prose, real life and fiction is shot through with love and humanity. The first publication of the not-for-profit Birch Moon Press, 'Heartache and Hope' gathers a range of women's voices on life under lockdown.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Birch Moon Press
• Release date: Jun 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781838109400

Book preview

HEARTACHE AND HOPE

Voices of a Pandemic

First Published in Great Britain in 2020 by

Birch Moon Press

www.birchmoonpress.co.uk

All Rights Reserved.

© Birch Moon Press 2020

ISBN 978-1-8381094-0-0

Front cover image © Maddy Bennett

Illustrations © Maddy Bennett

Copyright of the poetry/prose remains with the individual authors.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without the prior written permission of the publisher.

To all the women of the ‘What I’m Writing’ group who pursue the craft of writing and provide camaraderie and companionship on the writing journey, and especially to all of the authors who have entrusted their work to this collection.

Coronavirus Diaries

by Nikki Young

Friday 5th March

It’s all happened so quickly. News from China of a deadly virus they call Coronavirus, or Covid-19, came out around December time. It registered with me, was on my radar: but as it was happening on the other side of the world, in one particular province, it didn’t feature much in my thoughts. It’s not the first time a virus from China has hit the news - it’s usually okay. It doesn’t usually affect us.

Only once before have I been worried about a virus epidemic. That was Bird Flu.

At that time, my youngest was just a baby. I remember worrying sick about my three kids getting it. At one point, there was talk about staying home. There was some stock-piling going on, but it never came to that. In the end, the girls were vaccinated and the hysteria seemed to eventually die down.

So, with Coronavirus, there was concern at the back of my mind, but not too much. Not at first, anyway.

Not until there was a video leaked out of China of a doctor trying to warn the world how bad this virus was and how we must take it seriously. The Chinese government had tried to cover this up at first, but then this doctor died from the same virus he was trying to warn us about. They couldn’t cover it up any longer. It was time to face the world and let them know how serious a deal this was.

Unfortunately, the warning from China came too late for Italy. Their northern region has been hit so hard, people are dying in their thousands, and now the whole region has been sealed off and people told to stay indoors. Friends of ours in Rome have been texting to warn us how bad the situation is. They say the media isn’t reporting the half of it.

There’s talk of this turning from an epidemic to a global pandemic. Suddenly, the threat is real.

Monday 9th March 2020

Amidst the growing Coronavirus uncertainty, I am supposed to be going to Groningen in the Netherlands, to visit a couple of schools. This is the opportunity of a life-time for me - an international author visit. They’ve already paid me half the fee upfront. We’d been making plans for how my visit will pan out between the two schools.

Then came the news Flybe have folded. I’m due to fly with this airline from Southend airport. They are the only ones who go direct to Groningen and the school is only a 15-minute drive from the airport. It’s been a mad-scramble rush to look for an alternative route and it looks like my only option is to fly to Schiphol Airport and then take a two-hour train journey. I’m not keen.

Wednesday 11th March

It’s official - today Covid-19 was declared a pandemic. Every day, there is news of more and more reported cases of the virus. The Netherlands is no exception. The amount of travelling on public transport I will have to do on my trip doesn’t sit well with me, even though life is continuing as normal right now.

Friday 13th March

I’ve spoken to my contacts at the schools. Some parents have started to keep their children at home already. It seems they share my concerns. So, the trip has been cancelled. I’m relieved. I feel as though it’s for the best, that someone on a higher level, spiritually, doesn’t want me to go either.

Wednesday 18th March

It’s just been announced that schools in the UK are about to be closed until further notice.

This decision came much sooner than I could have anticipated. I run a creative writing club for children and every Saturday during term time, they come to my studio. There are two Saturdays left until the end of term. I thought we would make it through that. The end of term seemed as good a time as any to call a stop to most things, didn’t it? But sadly, a deadly virus doesn’t work to those kinds of deadlines and events have moved much quicker than any of us could have imagined.

I’m not alone in this denial. People had been asking me if I would be doing workshops at Easter, as