Hanging in the Air

An American poet and professor of poetry at Queen Mary University of London, Andrea Brady wrote “Hanging in the Air” during the initial wave of the coronavirus, dating it 1 April 2020. The poem depicts the speaker’s experience of lockdown, the loss of an entire season, the reduction of individuals to disease carriers, and an obsession with handwashing. She describes the paranoia of perceiving every passerby as a potential source of infection, remarking, “The person who passes is like us: a matrix of infection. We turn around at the head of the aisle that has someone in it and wash our hands and shrink. Our hands are very dry now” (S37). This fear-driven perspective dehumanizes strangers, emphasizing the speaker’s dread of contracting the virus. Moreover, the poem highlights the contrasting privilege of residing in a nuclear family with private property and a yard, juxtaposed with the casualties of the pandemic who remain trapped in lockdown. The speaker envisions a future where some will be able to resume their lives, released from our incommensurate lockdown to party and write poems… And some will still not be able to go out into the streets still full of the performance of abuse” (S38). The speaker’s secure position accentuates the disparity between her idyllic home and the city streets, where her Chinese friend is subjected to racist abuse. Reflecting her own fears, the speaker devalues the humanity of others in an attempt to safeguard herself. However, she also acknowledges the melancholy of those who are alone. By asserting that the “collapse of everything clears the air” (S39), Brady urges readers to reject the status quo and recognize how the pandemic has exposed its vulnerabilities.