The words of these times

What ugly sounds they seem to make

Those words of the last year, “pandemic”, “lockdown”, “test and trace”

Not pretty words to hear. We speak of “furlough” and “PPE”

We rarely did before,

And now things must be “covid-safe”

With gel and screens and more.

A "super-spreaders” not someone

That you would choose to meet,

You'd better “social distance” if

He's unmasked in the street. This new vocabulary is like A virus in itself,

Infecting all our constant chat

About the global health. A “circuit-breaker” used to be Just electrician speak,

And Dido lived in ancient times

According to the Greeks. A “vaccine rollout” is now the phrase

On everybody's lips,

Let's pray it will get numbers down

And that there'll be no blips. Oh bring back long-gone happy days

When “sage” meant wise or herb,

When “quarantining” was for dogs

And “covid”... an unknown word.