Pandemic: Second Wave

https://www.webmd.com

 

Corona, crown, virus,

we learn to call it COVID,

livid, vivid in our minds' eyes

as machines pump oxygen

and gowned, masked figures

move between monitors and hand-holding.

Gasp for breath, at the statistics,

at the restrictions, at the loss.

Ninety-four thousand; what battle is this?

'All be over by Christmas.'

The last time the country believed that

it took four years.

Three months' lockdown and a break;

lulled into a false sense of hope

as, silently, the virus mutates,

locating its next unsuspecting hosts;

denial creeps, lies are peddled

but the quiet scientists know.

Job loss, school-at-home,

shop online and zoom your friends,

an unchosen life emerges

with some as crowded as rabbits,

others home-alone stir-crazy, cash-strapped

and scared to venture out by tales of fines.

Negotiating Christmas without seeing family,

'Is it worth it?' the pragmatic question,

transmission-worries tussling theology,

faith tested in visceral ways

by sudden losses, everything from

life-long partnerships to grandkid's nativities.

Back to television broadcasts,

5pm and the P.M.'s late today

with his figures, regrets and coloured charts

showing rising R rates and hospital admissions

pitted against economic decline 

and empty classrooms.

Cover face, wash hands, stand back,

keep your distance, sing happy birthday:

still the ambulances queue,

doctors and nurses sport cheeks

smudged with tears, sweat, and mask marks,

and unsung men dig graves.

©Janet Henderson 22nd January 2021