Teika Marija Smits
Looking at a fluid-filled conical flask,
the reactants colourless,
you’d think nothing of note was happening.
It’s been the same of life in lockdown:
we go nowhere, see no one, touch nothing.
And yet, my son has taken up jogging and cooking,
my daughter, YouTube yoga, art.
My lecturer husband has been finding new ways
to connect with his students.
Me, I’ve been filling my own flask with words,
pouring myself into stories that one day I’ll share.
We’ve all been planting seeds and learning of the gifts
of nature; this unhurried way of life,
the dynamic quality of patience.
There is nothing static about this;
the very molecules of our being
are rearranging themselves.
—May 31, 2020
Author: Teika Marija Smits
Teika Marija Smits is a UK-based freelance editor, writer and mother-of-two. She writes poetry, fiction and non-fiction, and her speculative fiction has been published in Reckoning, Shoreline of Infinity, Best of British Science Fiction 2018 and Enchanted Conversation. Her debut poetry pamphlet, Russian Doll, was published by Indigo Dreams Publishing in March 2021. She is an Editor-at-Large at Valley Press, and in spare moments she likes to draw, paint and doodle. She is delighted by the fact that Teika means fairy tale in Latvian. She can be found online at: https://teikamarijasmits.com and on Twitter as @MarijaSmits
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