Social Listening
It started as a rumour, scaremongering some claimed,
China, Donald Trump, eating bats and snakes all blamed.
But now it’s oh too real and we wish we could’ve known
Wish we’d better understood and to loved ones perhaps shown
The love and care and closeness that we feel now
As we sit shut up at home questioning why, when and how?
We ended up in this sorry state of desperately watching news
Examining endless social media for tips and hints and clues
For when this whole state of affairs may be over with and done
When finally we can breath a sigh and life has again begun
Yet it will not be the same again it’s just can not revert
To the life we had before all this with the ignoring of pain and hurt
And those that are perhaps most in need those forgotten souls
Those ‘unskilled’ but now so key that plug our lifeblood’s holes
Those doctors working umpteen days wrapped up like astronauts
Those drivers and shop workers and teachers of all sorts
It’s not the isolation that many find so hard
It’s the fear and the worry - is my name written on death’s card
It’s the lack of holding loved ones when perhaps they need us most
It’s the empty chair when this over and you raise a goodbye toast
To those who’ve made it possible for all us to live on
And a solemn promise to not forget those that are loved and yet gone.
