Spring and the pandemic

Ana Valentina Angelo

Under the skies of Figueira XI

Hello, beautiful Figueira! What is it about?

Images: https://opalhetasnafoz.blogspot.com/2020/03/

The world is sad … it’s the virus!

I miss walking around the city. Meet cheerful, carefree people on the way to work, the beach, famous cafes, historic sites, the marina or even admiring the Mondego.

Photos: Cesar Angelo

Danger? Where does it come from?

The evil that suppresses the Figueira da Foz, stalks the world, comes from afar and goes far by leaving its sinister tracks. It comes weird, strange, it devastates human life, indifferent to other lives that surround it.

Photo: Cesar Angelo

Only from the window?!

From the window (and only from the window!) I see the world. The sea – calm and beautiful – kisses the sand at Praia da Claridade. The seagull, oblivious to the fisherman’s absence, roams the sky as usual, the gardens are abundant and colorful, but the streets are empty!

The ecosystem seems orderly and insensitive to events. In fulfillment of social isolation, people try to protect themselves from an unknown, lethal and invisible enemy. Outside, the virus lurks and does not forgive.

Photos: Cesar Angelo

Is it a Nightmare?

What a strange world today! I wish we could have stayed in yesterday. Ironically … right now, the weakness of man is to be alive. I miss walking in the sun, Figueira. I miss myself …

At night, mankind longs for the morning hoping to wake up and realize that it is all a terrible dream.

Photos: Cesar Angelo

The poet

Photo: Cesar Angelo

Somewhere, wistfully, the poet sings the arrival of spring in the northern hemisphere.

Northern Hemisphere Spring

Irene Vella

“It was March 2020. The streets were empty, the stores closed, people could no longer leave. But spring did not know, and the flowers began to bloom, the sun shone, the birds sang, the swallows would soon arrive, the sky was blue and the morning came early.

It was March 2020. Young people started online studying and found something to do at home. People could no longer go shopping or to the hairdresser.

Soon, there would be no more vacancies in hospitals, and people continued to fall ill. But spring did not know. It was time to deal with gardens, grass was growing green.

It was March 2020. People were put in confinement to protect grandparents, families and children. No more family meetings or meals.

The fear became real and days were all the same. But spring did not know. The apple, cherry trees, and all the other trees started to blossom while their leaves grew.

People began to read, to play as a family, to learn another language. They sang on the balconies and invited neighbors to do the same. People have learned a new language, to show solidarity and to concentrate on different values.

People realized the importance of health, of suffering, of this world that had stopped, of the economy that had fallen. But spring did not know. Flowers gave way to fruits, birds made their nests, swallows arrived.

Then came the day of liberation. People heard on television: “the virus has lost!”. People went to the streets, sang, cried, and hugged neighbors, without masks or gloves.

And then summer came because … spring didn’t know. She stayed there despite everything. Despite the virus, despite the fear, despite the death. Because spring didn’t know, but it taught people the Power of Life. ”¹