I shielded I hid I cowered
While all around me Corona flowered
I tried to ignore that obscene weed
By focussing on my own need
I sat I wrote I thought
I read I watched I panic bought
I clapped I cried
For those that died
I stayed I prayed
For those afraid
I scoured everything in a search for truth
Listened to the music from my youth
I saw the heroes and the hypocrites
The isolated and ignored, in bits
Without surprise I watched the numbers rise
The politicians bluster and scientists surmise
I Facebooked, Zoomed and Skyped
I found new recipes that celebs had hyped
I online shopped while people dropped
Yet all around, the world had stopped
We had to hide
I sympathised
Shielded and powerless, I began to write
Of the end of days
And our old ways
Gone into the night
Just like before
There’ll still be war
Visible and invisible
Beating at our door
Together we can beat
Cancer or is it China
But can we slay That covid one-niner...
Surely this isn’t reality
Bring back normality
I want my Weetabix
My Purple Bricks
Some cheap Tesco fizz
With a daytime TV quiz
I don’t know how to feel
Where’s my package deal
A cruise appeals
With all inclusive meals
Cheap including flights
Stay there 7 nights
Maybe a villa way out of sight
Bathed in an ethereal light
Somewhere I can touch your face
Far away from Track and Trace
But the truth is this
Let’s tell and kiss
Like so many fools
I didn’t break the lockdown rules
I didn’t go on the motorway
Where I couldn’t see my way
I did everything they told me to
I’ll ride the second wave with you.
Stephen A. Roberts
