616.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!
I expressed in dreams with hope;
Yet morning said no.
616.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!
I expressed in dreams with hope;
Yet morning said no.
428.
False economies,
Three million antibodies
Bought but not working.
429.
And children playing
In squares devoid of contact,
This unflinching sleep
430.
PPE unboxed,
Unless it’s at your border,
Who checks the orders?
431.
Elderly afloat,
Yet still the raft-makers gloat
Over the woolsack.
From scalp to soles, all muscles atrophied,
She courts water flavoured with aniseed
For an emetic. It’s seven days now
Since signing her sisterhood’s wasted vow.
Her chest’s like mine, her bones are clean,
Servery patients crowned her queen;
We meet without eating, only talk about food,
She tires quickly, and quick to brood.
Tattoos shrunk, teeth turn black,
A single cordon keeps death back
In exchange for her youth, an appetiser;
May a long later life be one tranquilizer.
N.B This poem is written in remembrance of a member of my family’s experience, and as a response to Wisława Szymborska’s Bodybuilders’ Contest
388.
The angels were gagged,
Such PPE behaviours,
For being saviours.
385.
Stockpiles of unused
Crude oil, millions shipped at sea,
Going round in circles.
355.
In this Age of Self
Crowds will trample you prone
For two kitchen towels.