Songs of separation
This started off as a sonnet. I split it so that each song got a moment in the spotlight
 
Tomorrow will be better
A song from World War 2
We’ll meet again
Don’t know where
Don’t know when
                       sung by Vera Lynne
                       “The forces favourite”
 
I wonder, could this be how our world closes?
A virus overwhelms us (that’s the fear).
Another time and place – a song proposes
‘We’ll meet again ‘, but where and when’s not clear.
 
Asynchronicity
A choir-leader gathered many voices by sending folk
A sing-along guide, which they could use to learn their part
But just as importantly, it provided a form of click track
                          The song is written and originally performed by
                          The Carpenters.
 
We’d synchronise and harmonise and smile
On stage. They stopped us meeting by decree,
‘Asynchronous record’, and then ‘compile’
Brought ‘Close to you’ so very close to me.
 
Two opera singers on the balcony
of a group of units entertain a crowd.
Was it because the buildings were like liners
That made me think of people who were stuck
away from family and friends?
The song “I still call Australia home”
was written and originally sung by Peter Allen.

Caught out
 Two tenor voices fill an open space.
With song that speaks of those who like to roam.
Bad luck! Some languish in a distant place,
Proclaiming that they ‘Call Australia home’.

 
Youth
Did the youth wonder “Is it for ever?”
I might ask him. It’s based on poignant video.
Of a youth with a guitar on a threshhold.
 
 
A youth sits down beside an open door,
Picks out a tune; then quarantine once more.