As the world systems before us looks to dissemble Every man woman tries to hide their trembling And in their hitherto unknown terror ridden eyes To shield the vulnerable old sick and their children From the blight that has hit this world a mega deathly Unforeseen yet alarmingly dangerous disease
Which may fear us to think we are facing the fires of hell
People have gone into survival mode In an unprecedented way previously unknown
As even in the world wars we were allowed to mingle
Yet having to concentrating on their own families
Keeping friends and acquaintances at bay Raids on foods and perishables By shoppers panicked by the news Of impending possibility of infection People running amok In an an attempt at medical deflection Overstocking their baskets selfishly They seem to have lost their composure To stay calm under duress of exposure
Supermarket shelves usually stocked aplenty Now unusually stripped rapidly bare Employees unable to restock quick enough before People get needy again and buy more than their share Out flies the window all notion of kindness and caring Thoughtlessly aborted from our frightened minds Whilst the older and frail struggle to gather anything Standing by watching their nourishment disappear
In complete despair it is not the cold but hunger
As once in wartime that they now fear
Borders are closed within territories for the foreseeable future Cities empty eerily silent like monolithic standing stones A visible testament to our history of progression Yet now seems to be all laying dead In a suspended prolonged uncertain time cessation Railway carriages empty many trains no longer run Civil liberties imposed and curtailed protests unsaid Social distancing suggested to all Cafe and restaurant life put to bed Making all feel anything but the norm
We retreat to our homes gardens and sheds
Those suspected and already infected
Confined to their homes no more visits
To the pub or church or relatives
Where to find relief from loneliness
And fear you might die alone
Exposed evermore to digital overload
Through gadgets synched in the internet zone
The news channels bombarding us With updates with fear inducing undertones
Media bleating nothing but bad news We feel mad to the point of going insane No control over this horror to gain From which their is little respite We continue to worry late into the night With no given date for the ending in sight
Laboratories technicians valiantly overworking Through night and every day Testing substances in vials and petra dishes Desperately trying to find a cure to clear our way For a disease previously unknown Now ubiquitous in its uncharted flight Destroying routines and rituals As if in a computer game set on maim never to refrain
Life before was stressful before of that there is little doubt But who could have imagined such a nightmare to descend Upon an unsuspecting world recently decimated by Fires floods storms famine and droughts Who will be the saviour of many lives already in reach of peril Will it be the powers that be or our own concentrated efforts To follow the protocol to banish this virus Covertly hidden within its germ coded deathly apparel So it can never again appear to mire us Nor hold us all over a proverbial dynamite filled barrel
In all corners of the earth we pray for restoration
Of normality once again so we can be hopeful
Once more in our beautiful planet's domain
In which peace is found for mankind's fortification
Copyright Natasha Anne Kelleher 19th March 2020
An Eerily Empty Piccadilly Circus in during a midweek day