“The pandemic taught me not to take anything for granted because all my junior year of high school plans and summer plans to go to France got canceled in a matter of days.”
“I had a very good time in quarantine. I’ve played the computer all day, slept a lot and played guitar and piano. The only shortcoming for me was that I couldn’t meet my friends and play with my band.”
“I got the shock of my life when I found out that the senior pastor got infected with the coronavirus. Before I knew it, our church had become the largest cluster in the whole of Singapore. Having visited the church twice that week, I myself was worried that I could have been infected by the novel coronavirus.”
“We were going to have a large party for my mother’s 90th birthday which ended up being a drive by for her. A few inconveniences that we encountered during our time in quarantine. Although these inconveniences disappointed us all they were minor in comparison to the devastation experienced by many during this pandemic.”
“The streets of my neighborhood are completely deserted, but every evening someone plays music from their balcony and everybody sings to it! I love how we Italians always manage to be loud!!”
“The government officials have estimated the numbers of virus infected people in Delhi itself is going to be more than 5 lakh by July end. It is quite a spectacle. A spectacle of numbers ! They have become so indispensable in the way of perceiving reality. We are straightjacketed into a dense matrix of numbers. Big data, statistics, surveys, meter readings of power connection, grades and even citizen identity. Poetry gives me a fresh lease of life to breathe in this age of numbers.”
“I don’t know the next time we’ll dance again in some loud bar that’s sticky with the rhythms and sweet warmed; something akin to lust. I like holding you around other people being held…”
“…it is mid May and I am noticing my feelings are turning much darker than before. When I venture out for quick trips for groceries and supplies, I see masked people everywhere, but I can no longer see smiles anymore. I so miss that. (I have occasionally seen some unmasked people and I want to scream at them to get a mask!!)…”
“With the pandemic, something has changed. I’m alone all the time. I don’t get to play music with other people. […] It’s not necessarily about performing for people, but also about playing as a way to understand yourself and your experiences. It’s about finding complexities within yourself […]. While I do miss my regular life, I’m happy to have Bach alongside me when I’m alone.”
“The uncertainty of the situation is troubling. I have also in general become more lax in handling my schoolwork, spending most of the day in bed watching series and having daydreams. […] This has also weirdly enough been a time for reflection and self-discovery…”
Life in Quarantine: Witnessing Global Pandemic is an initiative sponsored by the Poetic Media Lab and the Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis at Stanford University.
Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis (CESTA),
Stanford University
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