What on Earth ... ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
The owner of a pub about to enter the strictest tier of restrictions in England was recently heard to comment, “We do our best, but it’s never enough. We are told one thing, and do it, then we are told something different. How are we expected to plan ahead? What I wouldn’t give to know just what’s going on behind the doors of Number 10 Downing Street!
Well, the old saying is so true in so far as we never know what’s happening behind closed doors, especially when those doors give access to the powers-that-be responsible for making decisions that all but map out our daily lives.
Here
in the UK, even the Government admits that relaxing safety regulations designed
to protect us from Covid-19 during a 5-day window over Christmas will inevitably lead to more
deaths. If the thinking behind it is that many people will do their own thing
anyway, why not leave things as they are; most people will respect the
regulations while those who don’t will go their own way regardless of any window.
WHAT ON EARTH... ?
Weary
of restrictions,
patience
running (very) thin
shoppers
turning on
anyone
putting them right
about
masks slipping
or
not caring to wear one at all;
conspiracy
theories
all
the rage, and testing the self-control
of
majority non-believers
Christmas
edging closer,
safety
restrictions to be lifted
for
a window of cheer
no
matter anyone flinging it
wide
open likely
to
pay dearly for the pleasure
once
it’s slammed shut,
Covid-19
having had no such reservations,
continuing
to make itself felt
Mothers,
fathers, sisters,
brothers
and close friends left
grieving
as we move
into
2021, hopeful a vaccine
will
bring an end
once
and for all to a coronavirus
spreading
chaos and pain
the
likes of which all humanity can but trust
it may never so endure again
May
the world’s politicians
stay
mindful, too, of such threats
as
global warming
to
all nature and humankind,
reasoning
the need
with
care, clarity, and openness,
no
room for confusion,
less
underestimating Joe Public’s watchful eye
on
the party politics of illusion
Such
is life, most of us making
the
best of things rather than dwell
on
worst scenarios,
its
being too precious to waste;
better
to seize the day,
celebrate
a common humanity,
for
all its population
left
sighing over rainbows time and again, asking
"What on earth is going on ...?"
Copyright
R. N. Taber 2020
Labels: Cobid-19, coronavirus, dreams, expectations, global consciousness, grief, human nature, human spirit, life forces, love, pandemic, personal space, poetry, politics, rainbows, religion, society, survival