The world, reset

The world hung in a blue screen

suspended functionality 

Keyboard dead, flashing red 

no hope, no possibility

A planet silent running

its connection not detected

The world a broken terminal

its program mass infected

Then came a vital reset 

The manufacturer appeared

The world was placed in quarantine

its hardware re-engineered

He died and He was buried

and the planet was shut down

But he rose up from the grave

and Earth rebooted back again

'cos he dealt with every virus

that had invaded our system

He deleted the infection

that was holding us to ransom

He emptied out this planet

of the things beyond our control

and offered us a vaccine

to the virus in our souls

There's now a simpler algorithm

to improve our spiritual health:

Love God with all your strength and soul

and your brother as yourself

Steve Wheeler © 3 April, 2021

image source

A shot in the arm

I’m test-driving vaccines. They’ve caused me no harm. 

I’ve had twenty-six now, they’re a shot in the arm. 

If I venture outside, please don’t be surprised 

when I step back inside I’ve been immunised.

I’m protected from viruses prolifically. 

The best one’s the flu jab (which is annually). 

When the ampule is drained and the needle injects 

I’m never concerned about side effects.

There’s a long list of vaccines they’ve given to me 

such as Hepatitis vaccine (both the A and the B).

They’re given in jabs, they don’t come in a tube 

but the Polio vaccine takes the form of a cube.

Thanks to the vaccines I’ve taken in jabs 

Yellow fever can’t touch me, nor typhoid, nor crabs. 

Meningitis won’t harm me and nor will the Dengue. 

Those dangerous viruses won’t take me away 

I had my first vaccine before I could run 

Mumps, Measles, Rubella as a three in one. 

Tetanus and Whooping Cough are also no threat 

and I know that Diphtheria won’t make me sweat. 

Today I was immunised for Covid-19 

(they seem to have skipped the previous 18). 

I will be quite ecstatic if they develop a shot 

to make anti-vaxxers disappear on the spot.

 

Steve Wheeler © 1 February, 2021

image source

Stick or Twist?

We’re in the worst place we can possibly be caught between the virus and the economy. Do we stick or do we twist? Either way it’s a credible risk. The government wants us to go out spending but doesn’t want this country to be trending by rising up the mortality league list and it’s difficult to see through the pandemic mist. Should we stay safe in the lockdown or open up the businesses in the town? Though the transmission rates are coming down we still have a virus named after a crown. So while there’s an active epidemic and the infections are systemic these questions are academic because the outlook’s not fantastic and without meaning to sound bombastic some people need to get their ass kicked.

You see the politicians are in pieces ‘cos they weren’t prepared for this kind of crisis, but it’s the common people who are paying the price, and no amount of apology is going to suffice. Our leaders had no training for this amount of dying but what they do possess is a talent for lying and while the entire world is sat there crying while all around us our neighbours and families are dying, our so-called leaders should be busy rectifying all those initial mistakes that were made all the misinformation that was relayed and the best laid plans that were never laid and the important decisions that were delayed.

The question still unanswered as we are caught between the virus and the economy and if we try to get back to some sense of normality, is how much carnage are we going to see? As the lockdown starts to ease and everyone begins to do as they please are we going to avoid a wider spread of this disease, catching the coughs and stifling the sneeze? Will we soon be worse off than when we first began? As we attempt to reboot our economic plan will the social distancing rules be ignored? Will we listen to the advice from our overlords or will it all be like a monopoly board - go back three spaces, do not collect your reward? Now no matter what the government’s stance is, they’re gonna throw their dice and we’ll all have to take our chances.

Steve Wheeler © 5 July, 2020

Image from Pexels

This poem was first published in Ellipsis by Steve Wheeler, Wheelsong Books, 2020.

The virus and the damage done

As the vulnerable were locked inside and shielded

Then each of us in earnest with our gods, we pleaded

To end the dread that raged and roared about us like a hurricane

Soon we began to slowly realise that in our pain

None of us might ever be the same again

For each of us our future plans lost and conceded

As we watched each yesterday accumulate

Each day became yet one more crossed off date

In a calendar of desolation that stretched out before us every one

The death count mounted and infections spiralled on

Not one of us could shield our minds from the devastation

And the mental scarring of the damage by the virus done

And now although we are not without hope

Within that minuscule flickering of positivity

There lurks a certain taint of inevitability

A sense that the damage has already been done

And that no amount of redemption can bring us back out into the sun

And as the distance grows around us and the innocence dies

The security that we once knew petrifies

And so as we emerge, our eyes blinking with unease

Into a brave new world diminished by such insidious disease

We know that there will be no more days in the sun

Although each in our way attempted to be shielded

Our sanity was ultimately yielded

To the virus and the damage done

Steve Wheeler © 22 June, 2020

Image from Pixabay

This poem was first published in Ellipsis by Steve Wheeler, Wheelsong Books, 2020.

The R

In case you really need to ask

Although I have a homemade mask

I won’t be going out at all

Until the R rate starts to fall

Until the R rate falls to zero

I won’t be acting like a hero

I will be strictly staying home

Locked down inside my safety zone

To step outside my door would be

Too dangerous for me, you see

Some don’t comply with health advice

Their actions make the R rate rise

So replying to your RSVP

Accept please, my apologies

I hope your birthday’s second to none

And that your party will be fun

And you’ll enjoy plenty of sun

But when everything is said and done

I’d rather stay at home, and be safe inside

Than adding to the R rate rise

Steve Wheeler © 24 June, 2020

Image from Pikrepo

Taking Stock

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Welcome to our superstore

There’s everything you’ll ever need and more

Essential items are on display

Such as all the ingredients for Pancake Day

We’ll sell you lemons, sugar, eggs

But be aware we're running out of flour bags

We've sandwiches and ornate bowls

Alas, there are no toilet rolls 

There’s Easter eggs and potted plants

and frozen peas and underpants

And barbecues and packs of beer,

(Remember summer's almost here)

There’s ready meals to sink a ship

Buy one get one free, but be quick

There’s cod and hake and Dover sole,

But we’ve completely out of toilet roll

We do though, stock the Daily Mail

And other tabloids are on sale

And you can purchase all you need

From vegetables to packs of seed

There's a hundred different kinds of bread

Or you could try our cakes instead

But some things are beyond our control

For instance, there’s no toilet roll

Our goods are neatly piled in stacks

Select your items from the racks

Our special offers wait for you

From kitchenware to ladies shoes

Slashing prices you can’t ignore

Your trolley full, no room for more

But the panic buyers took their toll

We’re sorry, there’s no toilet roll

Steve Wheeler © 12 April, 2020