‘CONTRASTS’

So many people suffering
While others have a ball
It’s very obvious just now
The unfairness of it all:

Some are desperate for food
With no money coming in,
While others have a long paid break
With time to dance and sing.

High tech gatherings on the web
Keep many well in touch;
For others no such luxury,
The IT costs too much.

Some are loving extra time
And all the peace around,
While some are desperately alone,
No comfort to be found

Then there are those who moan a lot
About missing their friends,
Who keep on asking every day
“When will this lockdown end?”

For some it’s much more serious;
They’ve lost somebody dear
And others dare not venture out,
The news fills them with fear.

The world is always just like this:
The happy and the sad.
Some have a life of ease and joy
While elsewhere life is bad.

A world pandemic might just help
Us all to keep in mind
Those who aren’t so blessed as we,
And teach us to be kind.

There are such good things happening
With people helping others,
It may be humans start to see
Their fellow men as brothers,

And with so many slowing down
And taking time to think,
This might just be our chance at last
To step back from the brink.

Because it does the planet good
When we don’t rush around
Polluting all the atmosphere,
And this is what we’ve found

So let’s stop wishing for the end
Of rules that might seem stern;
It gives us time to think some more
About what we all can learn.

Pat Clarke (May 2020)