Poem in the pandemic.

Sometimes I compose poems in my mind to sort things out. I thought about this poem in the early hours and although some lines are forgotten, I decided to write it down the following day. I posted it on FaceBook for my friends to read. They gave me kind feedback and seemed to like it, so I thought that I would share it with you :-

Far away in China it seemed to hold no fear,
although for unknown reasons,
that I will never fathom,
people stockpiled loo roll,
they just had to have 'em.

Then as Italy was struggling,
to Cheltenham punters went,
packed together in their thousands,
did they think the virus would relent?

Told to stay at home to protect the NHS,
save lives and care for others, we'd do our very best.
Overwhelmed with volunteers,
too many to be needed,
the message was loud and clear,
and it was duly heeded,

The people they did not complain,
they decided to get stuck in,
to baking, growing, teaching and zoom,
with patience we would win.

The skies were bright and airy,
not a plane was ever seen,
I was optimistic,
that we would learn and keep our planet green!

The weather was a blessing,
the sun shone on and on,
people kept on walking,
spurred on by Captain Tom.

Weddings and birthdays cancelled,
to enjoy another year,
whilst mourners could not gather,
for those they held most dear.

Now we must decide,
which friends we like the most,
to sit out in our gardens,
with a socially distanced host.

We are allowed to travel,
if it is within one day,
so beaches they are crowded,
and the R rate is astray.

The countryside is now packed,
with stir crazy loons,
parking in the gateways,
leaving litter in their wake,
you really have no idea,
what an ugly mess they make.

The children they should be at school,
the teachers want to teach,
but parents think their little darlings,
would be safer on the beach!

For months we have been told,
to be a chubster is quite lethal,
to see the queue at McDonalds,
we must be in for a sequel!

I fear no lessons will be learnt,
old habits die hard you'll see,
we are more alike than we believe,
but you'll get no lecture from me.

I'm going to leave it here for now,
who knows where next we'll be,
but please let's ban Donald's Twitter,
that's something on which we can all agree!

© C Lawson (June 2020)