Dear LPG,

It seems that only a couple of years ago we were all talking about the effects of the earthquake and tsunami that boxing day brought with it on the other side of the world, but that happened 16 years ago now at the end of 2004.  It did not affect us directly, but we were able to see the devastation via our televisions and it was not difficult to imagine what it was like to feel the earth shake and the winds throw the whole area into turmoil as it rearranged everything.

I am one of those poets that finds inspiration nearly everywhere I look, and the thing that is really all around me at the moment is all around everyone…  I am talking about the obvious elephant in the room that is everywhere in the world at the moment; and the real problem has to be that we can’t actually see it.  Its effects are everywhere, but the only people who have actually seen it are the scientists with the help of their microscopes and their knowledge of what to look for.  All most of us can see is the devastation that it is still leaving as it continues to affect the world’s population.  and the worst thing is we cannot even see the coronavirus-waves coming until they have done their work and the statistics are gathered.

It was these thoughts that inspired me to write the poem I am offering today...

COUNTING THE WAVES.

Giant waves mean unfocussed damage.
Remember the Japanese tsunami.
We viewed the locust waves fly
Past - terrifying, unending .

The virus waves,  invisible without a microscope,
First chose the beautiful elders, one by one;
Next those who congregate
In superspreading shopping centres.

The second wave, aided by late onset mutancy,
Danced above the sea’s boiling uncertainty.

The New Year Question – is there a third wave?
Perhaps inevitable – forecasters are silent.
Will we recover. Soon? Ever? Never?
Is there hope? A Happy New Year?

Foster Murphy

 31 December 2020.

LPG would like to add our condolences to all who have felt the effects of Covid-19 and remind everyone to stay home and keep as safe as possible…