2020 

by Maxine Babb & Agnes Bannigan

We decided to each write a poem about 2020 to highlight the fact that we’re two different people, coming from two different backgrounds, who shared the same year.

2020 
by Maxine Babb

Confused, abused, broken down, tired
I don’t know how to feel anymore
This year took so much out of my core
People dying, families crying
pandemics a’risin 
protests and riots
In comes a recession but some still haven’t learned their lesson
Unmasked, not doing their tasks
But, in 2021, a new hope comes in 
And if people don’t like it...Bi-Den! 


2020 
by Agnes Bannigan

I am like the year itself:
Conflicted and contradicted.

I am ashamed of 
White skin. 

I am angry 
At a killer protein that 
I cannot even see.

I am hurt and confounded
By family who worships
A monster and a dictator
Who lives to hate.


I am so speared by what 
Men do to women
That I wonder if I could be
With a man at all,
But I am with
The one I am with.

I am also proud 
Of good work, to have a job
At all, to have a desk
Where I rest.
I am safe
In my new home
That I own with a man
Who loves me and is not
One of the warriors 
With a spear.

2020 was not all
Blazing incineration.
I am blessed to be
Alive and well.

Performance

Process

It was interesting to see how we both were able to portray our year through our poems for other people to relate to. We were inspired by the idea of people from diverse backgrounds coming together and also the idea of shining a light on the positive things that happened this year.