Quarantine Blues

From a hospital bed I watched the embers smolder,

from my couch I watched the planet set ablaze.

When I was strong enough to walk again

I couldn’t help but be amazed.

The people were all wearing masks,

separated with gloved hands,

there was fear in every gaze.

Just months ago there was fighting,

a war brewing in the streets.

How will a nation so divided

find its way through this new maze?

The state wants us to stay at home,

to help to “slow the spread”.

The stores are shuttered and bars are closed,

what chaos will this raise?

Around the globe people lay sick and dying,

the great tragedy of our time.

Whatever the answer is I know

I must find clarity through this haze.

This is only the beginning of something

frightening and new,

outside the world is burning darling,

so please hand me another brew.

 

 

Scared New World

Did you know?

There was a time when strangers

shook hands every time they met someone new.

That people used to pack themselves shoulder-to-shoulder

in halls and arenas to see a concert or a game.

 

Did you know?

We didn’t always wear a mask and gloves

when we had to go outside.

There wasn’t always glass between us muffling conversations

at the bank or at the store.

Did you know?

 

The restaurants used to be so crowded

you could barely hear the people you sat with.

That people gathered in bars to drink and enjoy

the company of people they didn’t know.

Did you know?

 

It wasn’t always a crime to cough or sneeze in public.

That work wasn’t always done from home.

That movies weren’t always watched on the couch.

Did you know?

 

That we used to have something called “freedom”.

That we didn’t always have to carry papers proving we were immune,

Or let the government trace our every move.

Did you know?

 

The news wasn’t always bad.

That you used to be able to visit grandma and grandpa

without being afraid.

That there wasn’t always fear of a kiss or a hug.

Did you know?

 

That farmers and simple men once fought the largest

army on the globe to give us everything

we surrendered in an instant without a fight.

Did you know?

 

Are these the questions our children will ask their own?

While they are living life through a screen,

a part of our scared new world?

Did you know?