So It Came (part XVIII) (day 3190)

(part XVII)

New words like quarantine
Self isolation
Social distancing
Became the normal.
They became sayings
Slogans worn on t-shirts
And those within Safety zone
Knew what they meant.
When they were spoken
Safe people knew how to react
Almost as if it was
A secret handshake
And it became practiced
Every night before prayers
How to react in certain scenarios
When these new words
Were used and accepted.
There was pride and acceptance
For responding to Fear
As Fear had so desired.

(part XIX)

The New Normal (day 3143)

This is the new normal
No handshake, no smile.
This is the new normal
Lineups with seperation
And stickers on the ground
Telling me which way to walk
Where to stand.
This is the new normal
Where by law
We are no longer able
To gather in groups
More than fingers on my hand.
This is the new normal
Where social distancing
And isolation
Are words of our common vocabulary.
This is the new normal
Where walking down the street
Closer than two meters
To a passing stranger
We get anxiety
That this stranger just might
Transmit to us
An unseen death card.
This is the new normal
Where government declares
A business can no longer stay open.
This is the new normal
Where humans no longer have
Medicine men and women
Available to help
Because their knowledge
Relies on the antidote.
This is the new normal
Where I pay a bank monthly
To hold onto my money
I have saved from spending
And told that method is safer
Than guarding it with my own life,
And that money
Is better in digital plastic
Infused and inflated
By central banks at will.
This is the new normal
Where the government
Of my home country
Feels the safety and security
Of its citizens
Comes after the solvency
Of its biggest industries.
This is the new normal
And we must resist.

Inside of There (day 643)

I see wizards
Mingling
With hazardous potions
I see angels
Screaming
To mindless pebbles
And rustling up darkness
Digging deep down inside
Like leather bound bikers
Full of anger
Peddling motionless
Save small nods of the head

I see guard dogs
Chained
To harvesting trees
I see trimmed hedges
Floating
Like lingering strangers
Passing through the darkness
That creeps along
The side of the house
Trampling
Brightly coloured daisies

I see chains
Swinging
Back and forth and stairs
I see widows
Standing in the doorway
Holding a straw broom
Blue and white checkered apron
And a tight bun
Holding in gray
And many years of
Deep isolation