Carers keeping vigil,
A virus fast unfurled.
People sick and dying
In every corner of the world.
–
Masks, shields and goggles,
Loved ones trapped apart.
There never was so much said about
The flattening of a chart.
–
Masks that mask expressions.
Eyes are all you get.
Listen to the tone,
Sounds of hope or moot regret.
–
Primordial gestures,
Hiding their dismay,
Concealing desperate wishes,
To make it go away.
–
Zoom appointments, work from home.
Strange things become the norm.
Testing, screening and quarantining,
While riding out the storm.
–
Empty day-care, empty airports,
Sanitized hands, probing swabs,
Growing distance, isolation,
Disappearing jobs.
–
Fear the invisible enemy
And hope to control the spread.
Some attend the sick,
While others mourn the dead.
–
All in it together,
Sad stories all around.
Second wave is looming,
Vaccine not yet found.
–
On and on and on it runs,
Quickening its pace,
Despite the daunting rules and regs,
The leaders put in place.
–
Leaders holding different views,
On power and morality,
And values placed upon the scales,
Twixt economy and mortality.
–
An infection travelling high and low,
No regard for breed or class.
Together, all are waiting,
For this too shall pass.