Lockdown Manifesto

by Julian Hanna

If you want to garden and you’re able, do it now

If you want revolution and you’re able, do it now

If you want to live in the now, do it now

If you want to live for tomorrow, do it now

If you want to wallow in yesterday, do it now

If you want to love, do it now

If you want to leave, do it now

If you want to sit at home and read the Guardian, do it now

If you want to dance

kiss

bake

learn to code

look at porn

dress up

stay naked

scour the floors

be alone

do it now

 

If you want to take photographs of empty streets, do it now

If you want to wear a hazmat suit, do it now

If you want to go shopping in your hazmat suit, do it now

If you want to contemplate the abyss, go right ahead

If you want to make a will and have it notarised, do it now

If you want to teach your children something useful, that’s a fine idea

If you want to write a novel, sure, no pressure

If you want to start a diary, do it now

If you want to write a manifesto, why not, it will only take a few a minutes

If you want to work

paint

run

space out

bathe (or not)

scroll

hunt

wander

survive

well, do it now

 

If you want to change the system from within, do it now

If you want to stop using money, do it now

If you want to dismantle capitalism, go ahead, it’s worth a shot

If you want to replant Silicon Valley with wildflowers, start digging

If you want to abandon the myth of progress, now might be the perfect time

If you want to read Capital, I’m not going to stop you

If you want to feel empathy, that’s super, do it now

 

If you want to waste time online, there is plenty of opportunity

Or if you are tired and just want to sleep, good luck, truly, I’ve been having trouble

 

Now is the time, folks

or not

it’s at least partly up to you

what you do or don’t do

while the world is busy with other concerns

and partly just the air you breathe

Image by Nelson Alexandre Rocha via Wikimedia Commons (cc)

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About the Author:

Julian Hanna lives on the island of Madeira. His writing has previously appeared in Berfrois, as well as The Atlantic, 3:AM Magazine, Minor Literature[s], and collections including We’ll Never Have Paris (Repeater). His latest book is The Manifesto Handbook: 95 Theses on an Incendiary Form (Zero Books). Find him on Twitter @julianisland.