‘It feels like being on a desert island’

WAY back in the 16th century, the poet John Donne wrote: “No man is an island”.

He was contrasting the fact the people in society interact, whereas an island is self- sufficient. At the moment, I wonder if his belief is true.

I suppose, like me, many people feel a bit like being on an island because so much interaction is forbidden or restricted.

Students are in their halls of residence and I live alone and my family members live in Leeds and South Wales, so are locked down. We can’t swim ashore, as it were.

Thankfully, technology allows my sister and me to share a glass of wine and we pretend we are Covidtesting, and sometimes it takes more than one to get a true result!

It is a year now since we met, and who knows when it will happen again.

I quite like my little island, especially when the sun is shining, but the nights are drawing in. I will have to pretend it is a tropical island and choose my eight discs and a book other than the Bible or Shakespeare. At least here I can get instant reading downloaded to my kindle.

My DIY skills have improved over the last few years, but I will not be making a raft, though I have to say a toilet roll holder I fixed to the wall a few months ago is still there – as long as you’re gentle with it.

We all have to do our bit to protect each other for however long it takes. Even if we feel isolated, we have to remember what good old John Donne goes on to say: “I am involved in mankind.”