The Rona got me. I evaded her for more than a year but eventually, she broke through my defences and stole my taste and smell. She also left me with this annoying cough that makes me sound like I have a 40 pack-year history even though I have never touched a cigarette in my life … Continue reading Isolation ramblings
Author: jessicaaugusta
There one minute, gone the next.
Things I wonder while waiting for the nurses to bring me the death notification book
Night shift
The rain is falling heavy on this metallic warehouse roof. It's 8pm. We have to raise our voices to be heard above the watery clamour. The rain is falling heavy on this metallic warehouse roof. This roof that keeps the rain out and the virus in. Its 11pm. The machines have to beep louder to … Continue reading Night shift
Writing challenge – Day 14 – Words
I have a thing for words; an obsession; an infatuation. A logolepsy. Give them to me in any shape or form. Song lyrics, poetry, spoken verse, seven-hundred page novels, simple one-line phrases. I love the spaces between words. The chance to pause and take it in. An escape; an abditory. I love how reading them … Continue reading Writing challenge – Day 14 – Words
Writing challenge – Day six – Joy
Is it just me,or does joy become more elusive as you get older?Like joy is the sunand it becomes eclipsed by clouds.Clouds that are worrySelf-doubtGuiltShameRates and taxesTraumatic experiencesCar maintenanceAn ill loved oneClimate changeA pandemicSo many cloudsmakes it hard to seethe sun.But the sun is always there;shining despite the clouds.Sliding in and out of blue-sky gaps,making … Continue reading Writing challenge – Day six – Joy
Writing challenge – Day three – A memory
It's difficult to recall a random memory, in all its glorious detail, on demand. But when I smell a certain scent or hear a particular song they come flooding back. An onslaught of immaculate detail. Years and years later. Even the memories I didn't know I had. Like when I hear Black Eyed Peas' "I … Continue reading Writing challenge – Day three – A memory
There is something in the air down here
DCIM\100GOPRO\GOPR9250.JPG There is something in the air down here; in the Garden Route. Take a drive with me along the N2 and you will see. It's alive. You can feel it in your bones. It's the kind of something that makes you want to roll down your windows, turn up your radio and breathe. One … Continue reading There is something in the air down here
Lessons in letting go
"Learn to close softly. The doors of rooms you will not be coming back to." Donald Justice Everything I have ever had to let go of has claw marks on it. I fought. I clung. I held on until my knuckles broke. Until I was destroyed with trying. A boxer after a knockout. On my … Continue reading Lessons in letting go
Ecological Grief
My grief is on fire todayand so is the mountain.The air is thick.It burns my throat.I inhale. I choke.Sirens wail behind the smoke,rotor blades pierce through the density.The surfaces of my apartment,of my heart,are covered in ash.The remains of Mother Naturefall softly to the groundunperturbed by the chaos surrounding.As if to say,“Continue your destruction,and I … Continue reading Ecological Grief
A blind assault on our planet
The earth is a fine place and worth fighting for.Ernest Hemingway I found it incredibly difficult to write this blog post, and it is probably not my best work. I think that is because this is something I feel passionate about but have never been able to articulate in the way it deserves. We are … Continue reading A blind assault on our planet
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