Covid-19 List and Poem


No weddings, no funerals, no parties, no team sports, no get togethers, no bars, no pubs, no restaurants, no concerts, no businesses, no conferences

                          No Olympics

              No libraries, no plays, no cinemas, no theatre

No schools, no child care centres, no kindergartens, no universities, no classes, no recreation centres, no swimming pools, no hiking and biking tours, no travel, no socializing, no book clubs, no bridge clubs, no yoga classes

         No hotels, no trains, no buses, no hitch hiking, no planes, no ferries, no cruise ships,

         No government sessions, no elections

No hairdressers, no beauty parlours, no dentists, no massage therapy, no eye exams, no elective surgeries, no gyms, no alcoholics anonymous meetings

No protests, no marches, no barricades

                No courts, no churches, no synagogues, no mosques, no temples, no gatherings

                                    No hugs, no kisses, no handshakes, no pats on the back,

No work

No fun

No money

                 No life as we knew it

 Only hospitals, health workers, food suppliers, grocery stores, pharmacies, police stations, gas stations and fire-halls

All working from home:

politicians, bankers, accountants, secretaries, teachers, doctors, etc.

Only isolation, virtual communication and emoji emotions

Only social networks dependent on internet connections

                    We still have wars, bombings, hunger, sickness, disease, misery, refugees

                             We hope, always hope for the future, the children, the world

 We fear the unknown, dying alone, losing a loved one, the loss of freedom, tomorrow

                     We have more time to:

read, think, write, talk, walk, watch movies, cook, eat, drink, sleep, play and           listen to music, paint, exercise, spend with the children, the parents, the flowers

Make love

reach out, reconnect, remember

and plan for a fantastic future

  I

           want to hide, climb a tree, run away, call someone, stand still, play

           close my eyes, my ears, my brain, my mouth

           understand, help, fight, fix

                                                                    laugh and live

 

 

 

Extreme Measures


I walked to Muriel’s house where Camp lives now and didn’t meet anybody, even though it’s not an isolated road. It felt kind of eerie, as if the town was depopulated. Camp answered the door and led me downstairs into his den which was strewn with books, maps, a wooden desk with a laptop and several more books on it. A busy place by all accounts.

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The Long Run


There was a knock on the door and then Camp stepped in without waiting, being practically one of the family. It’s Saturday, not Thursday. We sat upstairs and I fetched us a couple of cold ones. ‘No draught I’m afraid,’ I said but you have a choice here. Once we had our beers we sat down, rather than stand around the kitchen, leaning on the fridge and the sink, as people are apt to do.

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New World


New World

‘Last week I debated if I should close my store and join the social distancing movement,’ Camp said when he sat down at our table which was the only one occupied in the whole pub. ‘This might help to slow down the crown virus a fraction but it definitely would be the death knell for the already non-profit book store. So, I decided to keep it open, wipe the door handle every time somebody comes in and out, wear surgical gloves for the money which is practically non-existent, don’t breathe on people and keep an upbeat atmosphere by playing funky music. No blues, no classical but reggae and jazz like Charley Parker, Miles Davis and such. If nothing else it keeps me in a good mood.

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Oracle and Prophet


In the last month alone, the world has gone topsy-turvy and everybody is running for the exits it seems, grabbing toilet paper and useless face masks on the way out.  Camp and I are looking at all the hysteria and financial market convulsions from our vantage point at Gramma’s Pub, feeling a bit removed from it all since Gibsons is virtually an island, away from the hub-bub of the big city and the rest of the world. In order to not get caught in the maelstrom of panic I decided to propose a game to my friend Campbell, Camp to all and sundry around here.

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