A Poem from “Light and Shade”, Prompted by the Announcement of a Second Lockdown

On Saturday 31 October, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that England will be going into a second lockdown from midnight Thursday 5 November. This announcement reminded me of my poem “Furlough”, which is reproduced below:

Furlough

During the time

Of Corona, girls unseen

May fulfil a lonely man’s dream.

While poets smile

And spend their time

Composing rhyme.

“An Englishman’s home is his castle,”

Neighbours say.

And, wishing to avoid hassle,

They look the other way

As girls (ineligible for ...