Cherry Blossoms Couldn't Have Turned Pink at a Worse Time

Tuesday 14 April 2020

The sun has risen, but thankfully the number of cases here hasn't risen with it. That's not to say, though, that there aren't still hundreds of people succumbing to COVID-19 every day.

It’s probably for that reason that Emmanuel Macron announced last night he was extending the confinement for another four weeks. Now, the first taste of freedom won’t come until Monday 11 May — and that date itself might prove premature.

The thought of being trapped inside for another month is not one I’m in any mood to consider. While the last month went by surprisingly fast, I do worry the next few weeks might be tougher. It just isn't that easy to sustain a life in limbo, in which nothing ever seems to happen but outside of which everything is happening all at once.

Yesterday, just after finishing my piece, I had a second siesta. I was so tired after the first one, I knew right away that if I didn’t sleep then and there I would struggle to stay awake later on. It’s a miracle I managed to write anything at all, since I clearly wasn’t in the frame of mind to put pen to paper.

I’ve been spending some time playing around with poetry. I don’t know if whatever I’ve written is any good, but it’s nice to write in a form other than prose. I think…