Good News

Poem 722 – They Said Yes

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After a morning when I couldn’t settle,
When all I could do was repeatedly check the emails
And then check them again to just make sure,
The email finally dropped. I stopped. My breath,
My heart, ability to think, all paused.
I clicked, the message popped, and for a moment
The letters blurred and swam upon the screen. Until they coalesced, a great big yes.
I screamed.

Following on for yesterday’s poem, the message I was waiting for was wonderfully good news! A grant we had applied to was awarded. So pleased.
(18.10.25)

© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Poem 21 – When is Good News Not Good News?

/ BenDQ / Leave a comment

The results are in
It was positive
This strikes me as strange
Not the result but
Terminology
Positive should be
A good outcome or
News to celebrate
But sad to say this
Affirmative means
Hiding away from
Friends and family
Hoping and praying
That each imagined
Symptom vanishes
Not grows and becomes
Something more than a
Whisper or hint of
A misplaced breath or
Momentary flush
A twinging back or
Misplaced taste or smell
None of this seems that
Positive to me

Alas my Covid test results weren’t as hoped, although thankfully I’ve not got it badly at all. Reckon this period of isolation should prove productive for poem writing though once I’ve got my usual activities all covered…

(01.11.21)

© Ben Quant 2021