What will we remember A hundred years hence Slapping coats of truth and false Repainting history’s fence This COVID thing has shaken Change in starts and fits Lost and gained a generation Old certainties in bits Every day red arrows climb Of infection, death Spools of news keep tumbling out We cannot catch our breath Suddenly priorities spin All is black and white We focus on the moment now Yet often grey is right As powerful symbols resonate We go down on our knees A fractured common inheritance The wood unmasks the trees Exchanging much more, much more afar Across continents we Zoom Smiley stacked boxes faces replace A thousand meetings bloom Home and work never seemed so close Balancing kids, and boss, and life Lockdown jiving becomes the norm Mixing privilege, stress, and strife Quiet and clear skies start to fill Routine pollution returns again We fear the waves, uncertainty Discord, dread still entertain How much more will we see pain? Have we learnt the lessons we need? A world painted with unequal stain Fence sitting tacitly assenting greed
