PORTAL Journal of 
Multidisciplinary 
International Studies

Vol. 17, No. 1/2  
Jan 2021

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Citation: Hammond, C. 
2021. Pleas Through a 
Glass. PORTAL Journal of 
Multidisciplinary International 
Studies, 17:1/2, 125–126. 
http://dx.doi.org/10.5130/
pjmis.v17i1-2.7419

ISSN 1449-2490 | Published by 
UTS ePRESS | http://epress.
lib.uts.edu.au/ojs/index.php/
portal

CULTURAL WORK

Pleas Through a Glass 

Chad Hammond

Corresponding author(s): Chad Hammond, 649 Evergreen Boulevard Saskatoon, SK, Canada 
S7W 0Y7. nascent.knowledge@gmail.com

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5130/pjmis.v17i1-2.7419 
Article History: Received 12/09/2020; Accepted 05/11/2020; Published 28/01/2021

Abstract
This poem enters one of many craters left by the COVID-19 pandemic and bears witness to 
the divisions exposed within.

Keywords
Pandemic; COVID-19; Essential workers; Racism; Women

Tucked away from sight 
the new are catching the old. 
Third today, she coughs, 
wheeling the chair to the window 
where the young glares await. 
How does one entrust to an other 
so hated the care of her mother? 
Tonight behind this glass she asks 
Please Mme, thank you, not mine,  
lift your hand to hers before you go.

#Stayhome, there in-between 
shuttered windows and shattered screens. 
Post all your juvenile pleas 
to the other side of these 
sublimate the fate you dread. 
A petried mind cuts and swipes 

DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTEREST The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with  
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. FUNDING The author(s) received no  
financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

125

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her way back to the others. 
Tonight behind this glass she asks 
Please, peers, take these times 
broadcast a future beyond boredom.

Big boxes, big windows 
bring a glow to a shutdown heart. 
Food before virtue, ‘cept for the workers 
underneath transparent skin 
they move ‘long this hungry machine. 
She works the stocks, runs the yards, 
Pushed on all fronts much too far. 
Tonight behind this glass she asks 
Please, sir, you don’t need to shout, 
What are you searching for?

Downtown, still life displays 
the quiet ruptured storefronts,  
streets rattle the shades 
with fury, her boy’s life pressed 
into a fragile photo frame.  
She reads signs of foreclosure 
est. ’74, gone today. 
Tonight behind this glass she asks 
Please, God, bring to those past eyes 
a glimmer beyond their wake.

Hammond

PORTAL Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies, Vol. 17, No. 1/2 January 2021126