Dublin City centre this morning
The Coming Of The Virus
Where did you come from, when will you go?
You make us sad and sag, like a weary weeping willow
Do we have to suffer, so the world can recalibrate
Is this the final chance, we ask, or are we too late?
Did you come in nature’s way, the Earth to regulate
The few mad men and women who were deciding all our fate
Stripping all our natural wealth, our homes and lands and all
Had you to come, to ensure, those greedy few would fall
Did you come to stop the burning of the Earth
Is your goal to warn us, of the need for our rebirth,
Does the lesson have to be, so terribly, terribly cruel
To stop the greed and put an end, to this global misrule.
Does it have to be so general, the horror that lays in store
Are we all guilty for allowing them, come inside our door,
Should we have been braver and thrown them all back out
Is it because we closed our eyes and didn’t raise a shout
We cannot fight you, with all the arms that we have made
The nuclear button, the aerial bomb or the hand grenade
Must we slow, slow down, and learn the errors of our ways
Did you have to come among us to put an end to all this craze
Are you far into your circle or is there more to go,
Have we destroyed so much, that the lesson must be slow
Is this our ultimate sacrifice , so our children can survive
Is this the final warning, to keep humankind alive
Oh man, woman, boy or girl, no matter where you are
Don’t ignore the signals that this virus spreads afar
There is a chance, that we could dance, once again in love
And pray it won’t be long until, the virus is a dove.
Shay Connolly
Meanwhile…
Rage
I hate when my pen runs out of ink
Way much more than you’d actually think
Scraping the page with invisible print
Time to chuck the damn thing in the bin
I hate institutions that display hypocrisy
And the over reliance on modern technology
Those who drive, when they really don’t need to
Not to mention the footpaths, so full of dog poo
I hate when folk buy more than they need
It’s not precautionary, it’s just plain greed
And idiots who engage in risky behaviour
They annoy me as much as my noisy neighbour
Those who ignore health and safety advice
For their stupidity, we all pay the price
Distance is vital in the supermarket queue
‘Cause if you breathe on me, I’ll breathe on you too
I’ll breathe out fire like an angry dragon
I’ll huff and I’ll puff with all my passion
I’ll send you a minimum of two metres away
Heed those guidelines as of today!
And why is my house constantly untidy?
Despite my best efforts, it always looks messy
I notice my housemates turn a blind eye
When I ask them to help, they refuse to reply
We all live together and we have to survive
I concede they’re only ten, seven and five
But it’s common courtesy to pick up your stuff
I guess I’ll keep nagging and never give up
I can’t even hang out the washing in Spring!
What kind of a country is this we live in?
It’s freezing in March, snowing in April,
Raining in May and all flights are cancelled!
I’m rambling now and inclined to digress
I’ll get back to the point that I wish to address
The thing that enrages me most, I think
Is when my ballpoint pen runs out of ink
Eimear Grace
Lines on the lockdown to broadsheet@broadsheet.ie.
