NaPoWriMo Earlybird - "Museum"

Today's earlybird prompt:

Today, we’d like to challenge you to spend a few minutes looking for a piece of art that interests you in the online galleries of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Perhaps a floral collar from the tomb of Tutankhamen? Or a Tibetan cavalryman’s suit of armor? Or a gold-and-porcelain flute? After you’ve selected your piece, study the photographs and the accompanying text. And then – write a poem! Maybe about who you imagine making the piece, or using it. Or how it wound up in the museum? Or even the life of the person who wrote the text about the piece – perhaps the Met has a windowless basement full of graduate students churning out artwork descriptions – who knows?

I chose a 9th to 10th century lamp found at Nishapur in Iran. It made me consider the important role that museums and galleries play in shedding light on history and the past, that we would not otherwise be aware of, and how important they are culturally. Here is my poem:

Illuminating the darkness of the past
Shining a light beyond our birth
The artifacts allow us to cast
Our minds back in time and memory
 
Take, for instance, this lamp
Once brightened dark, impenetrable nights
A pretty pattern shadow stamped
On the walls in a Silk Road city
 
And now held in collective trust
Reminders, and remainders, of civilisations
Once forgotten, beneath earth and dust
Projecting a beam upon history

Honesty & A New Challenge

I will be completely honest; the last few months have been extremely tough for me mentally.

I was probably just about getting by last year when the pandemic first broke. It wasn't easy to adjust to working from home, the kids being home and a new baby in the house but the sun was out mostly and it was a novelty.

Then the kids went back to school, bringing with it a new set of challenges - namely walking the 4 miles to and from school twice a day, but the exercise was welcome and again it was manageable.

However, when the schools closed again and this time they were expected to work from home too, it was much tougher. Trying to concentrate on work when they both needed either assistance or inspiration or mostly motivation was really hard. This was added to a baby who had learned to walk and was attempting to climb onto everything and pull down everything within his (very long) reach.

Added to this, the kids were missing their friends and were tired of being tied to the house with us and each other (especially being jealous of baby brother) - and the weather was really crappy too. It has been extremely intense.

I had hoped that the return to school would improve things, but the kids are still exhausted of being at home at weekends and evenings that they are still really difficult to parent and things remain intense. I think if my mental health was in a good state to begin with, then things might not feel so hard now, but my mental health has never been great.

I have always suffered from low self esteem and anxiety related to that, so that, especially when the schools closed a second time, I was trying to be there for everyone else and feeling bad that I couldn't. I felt that I needed to be working, helping the kids home-school, looking after the baby, helping my wife with home chores...and to be honest I am probably close to burn out now...My wife thinks I'm already there.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to read, but I've found it impossible to sit down with a book and not been able to relax at all. It's also made it impossible to be creative. The best I have managed is an adult sticker book, but even that has been too much at times.

Coming to terms with all this has been difficult, but it has helped to admit it. I have requested professional help, and I have also come across a NaPoWriMo challenge which I plan to do during April. The fact that it comes with prompts will hopefully help as I am short of ideas right now, but at least it will be an opportunity to put thoughts elsewhere, even for a short while.

So look out for some new poems coming in April.

Thanks for reading this long, and honest post.

Take care & stay safe.