By Evon Wheeler
Observations from a walk
I hadn’t know loneliness until a stranger said hello
for months now, I’m met with averted eyes,
people swiftly crossing the road, to avoid all human contact.
empty blue hands line bleak pavements,
as tendril arms grab forward, the weeds are taking over
a smile, disguised behind a masked face,
muffling their greeting
The park, a fire once lit, now embers
remnants of a picnic left behind.
the scruffy black cat proudly brings home its kill,
the sparrow’s head dangles at the wrong angle
squeaking birds warn too late of danger.
nature defeats man, as a poppy blooms in a crack.
New normal
All you see are joggers and cyclists
and the still open KFC, like a catalyst
to what’s essential, as we seek the gentle
touch of family, who we hold at arms length
and somehow we are meant to find strength
to carry on, in this new normal.
The vaccine heralded as the new messiah
to save humanity without a hint of prosperity
the elderly stuck at home alone, lonely
withering autumn leaves, veins like bellows
breathing life into the dispensable.