Table of Contents
Brave New World
I wake up early, it’s still dark.
There are no sounds outside is quiet
No early morning planes ploughing
Silver lines into the skies, no cars
That started early to beat the morning rush
It should be peaceful, but it makes me feel
As though I’m falling off the edge of the world
Spinning into black and endless space
The days are both full and empty.
Working from home and teaching my kids,
Cooking, cleaning, the one half hour
Of moving through sunshine
Keeping a careful two metre distance
Between everyone I meet, heart pounding
With the rhythm of my steps and aching at
The sight of trees in blossom, green grass
It’s fine. We can adjust, we have to just tick off
Each day, one after the other. One foot in front
Of the other, small steps. Through this utterly changed
Brave New World of ours.
Tamara von Werthern is an award-winning playwright based in Hackney.
You can read more about the success of her dystopian short film, I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire, here.
Her play The White Bike, and climate change book Letters to the Earth, featuring her contribution, are available at Pages of Hackney bookshop on Lower Clapton Road.
