Everything is COVID-19

Today, everything is COVID-19. Everything.
From the old woman coughing in her back garden.
To that woman who looked — with immense suspicion — at me
As I obligingly shuffled passed her fortress home.
(She then openly slammed her door!)
And a police car, brooding on the other side of the river,
Waiting to split-up the sunny crowds
Which flock to that sweet place.
Even the ambient wind was portentous -
It accompanied the unfolding dark events.
And the cat which cleaned itself obliviously.
What is it oblivious to? Why; the Virus of course.
As I said, everything is COVID-19.
There’s even people talking, ostentatiously,
About not talking about the Virus.
Others are making neat arrangements
To escape from the whole sorry show.
As I said, everything is COVID-19.

While using up my daily-exercise allowance,
It was mainly duos I saw -
Though a few triplets had slipped through.
(As long as they keep the Virus familial!)
Nearly all those I passed kept their lawful distance.
But their judgemental and suspicious eyes
Weren’t necessary at all.
No; not al all.
The main road was loudly silent — even at a peak time.
(One could set up shop right in the middle of it.)
And, as I passed every shut-down shop,
I read their cliched, repetitive notes:
Stuff about the government’s Virus Law;
And about how much these businesses
Deary loved each and every customer.

Hey, but this is war… isn’t it?

So even though I’m not infected
And I know no carrier,
This virus still wraps itself around us all.
It’s there — from dawn till dusk.
It is The News of yesterday, today and tomorrow.
You wake up to COVID-19 News;
And nod down to yet more of the same…
At the end of each repetitive day.
You can’t escape from Virus’s white heat.
It punctuates every conversation
And every solitary event.
It’s an idée fixe that unfixes us all -
Not only the selected few.
Some use it for political/religious End Times talk.
Others laugh it off as a hoax,
Or as a means for Big Brother control.
Yes, there’s no escape from the viral meme either.
Those who want to escape are deemed selfish.
And those who obediently follow the instructions
Too often grandstand their altruistic rule-following.

Hey, but this is war … isn’t it?