I’m not in the UK at the moment so it’s highly likely my experience of lockdown has been somewhat different! This short poem tells of an entire island’s initial lockdown instigated immediately as soon as there was one case of the virus – yes, one single case – and of its slow return to life…
LOCKDOWN
Last minute announcement– everywhere’s shutting in two hours
Oh … my … goodness … I have no food … no money to buy food
Chase round to the local store, gather a few cheap basics
(Keep in mind lockdown is for TWO WHOLE WEEKS!)
Days drag by, hunger sets in. Surely somewhere is open?
Outside is dead – no tourists, no traffic – a ghost town
What’s going on? How has this happened?
Never experienced anything like it … scared, alone, helpless
Let’s face it. It was the right decision – it worked
Only one hundred cases, to date, and sadly seven deaths
Carried in by passengers on planes, from the States
Kept in isolation immediately, no spread of the virus elsewhere
Decisions to reopen, bit by cautious bit, some restrictions maintained
Onus on taking responsibility, protecting ourselves and others
Wearing masks, distancing, sanitising, a new normal taking shape
Never be the same again here, but it can still be good…
Trish Chester July 2020
Inspired by Cerowyn’s Lockdown Poetry Workshop
