THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY FIVE DAYS OF LOCKDOWN

A year, three hundred and sixty five days,

Seemingly a lifetime since we all parted ways.

Twelve months ago, flanked by flags, Boris sat at his desk,

Telling us we’ll beat it by Easter, it’s what Britain does best.

Empty shelves, fights for loo roll, lack of PPE,

One rule for them, another for you and me.

Terrifying statistics, constant doom scrolling,

Endless news reports, press conferences, nonstop trolling.

Anxiety, uncertainty, panic attacks,

Hand gel, anti bac, making fabric masks.

Economy in ruins, job losses, working from home,

Zoom, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, your colleagues on your phone.

Kids out of school, Joe Wicks P.E and virtual classes,

Adjusting to the new normal, furlough for the masses.

Christmas trees up in July, pjs all day, banana bread,

New hobbies found, new habits made - anything to keep at bay the imposing dread.

Binge watching Tiger King and an obsession with Joe Exotic,

Netflix bills are crippling bank balances but thank god we’ve got it.

Clap for carers at the front door,

Watching in tears, raising millions, Captain Sir Tom Moore.

Faith, optimism, belief, the sign of the rainbow,

Knowing it’ll end even though we have a long way to go.

Our hour of exercise, those long daily walks,

Seeing family on FaceTime, catching up and big talks.

BBQs, essential shopping trips, click and collect,

Exploring your local area, waving hello to everyone new you’ve met.

Texts of ‘how are you doing’ or ‘anything you need from the shop?’

Only able to see your mum at the door when you do the groceries drop.

The first few months full of shared misery,

The whole nation powering on as one, just waiting to be free.

The weather was warm, ‘this won’t last too long’,

But spring turned to summer and still it went on.

Students back to uni and kids back to school,

The uk government still acting the fool.

Ministers shirking the blame, the failed track and trace,

Suddenly numbers are going back up at an alarming pace.

Surprise surprise rising deaths and another surge,

Firebreak in Wales, Welsh Government determined to purge.

Another lockdown in England, is this one the last?

But promises of a normal Christmas when this bit has passed.

But here we are, moments before the big day,

And another press conference taking it all away.

Families breaking the rules just for a sense of normality,

But January is looming with a stark sense of reality.

So the new year bells chime in, twenty twenty is done,

But we’re just in for a repeat it seems as we welcome twenty twenty one.

This winter lockdown seems harder than ever,

Presents opened, back to work blues and terrible weather.

The daily walk is difficult when it’s dark, windy and cold,

And it’s looking further away than ever that we’ll have our loved ones to hold.

But there’s hope on the horizon, the UK is rolling out jabs,

Vaccines are approved left right and centre, more lockdown heroes in our labs.

The roadmap out is announced, it’s all go in June,

Hope at last if still tinged with the worry it’s too soon.

We can meet for coffee outdoors or see a friend in a park,

It’s not normal life but at this point it’s close enough to the mark.

A covid winter has passed us and we’re into the spring,

The weathers turning again and we’re wondering what this summer will bring.

Maybe we’ll meet pals in the pub and have after work drinks,

We can hug relatives again and we won’t have to think.

Get the suitcases out, pack your bags to go on holiday,

That familiar airpot bustle, a beach and a tan not far away.

We’ll be able to go to the shops, fritter our wages on clothes,

We can congregate at festivals, meet up in our droves.

We’ll celebrate a years worth of birthdays, all the events we’ve missed,

The beaming faces of the kids who grandparents haven’t kissed.

We’ll look back on this time like it’s all a distant dream,

But we’ll remember what we’ve been through, the horrors that we’ve seen.

We’ll hold governments to account, remember those we have lost,

We’ll continue to recognise our key workers, their sacrifices and their cost.

One day this will be over, lockdown will be done,

And we’ll be all together again, our new life - begun.