Introverts Revenge
Lockdown life is slow,
a chance to quit the vortex, turn away
from social life too busy for the brain.
Happy dallying in solitary pursuits;
a poor-man’s piece of splendid isolation
(celebrities pay well for such retreats).
On the daily recommended yomp
company’s conveniently forbidden;
milling shopping malls are all forgotten,
memories of teeming transport fades.
In supermarket queues two-trolley separation
hinders chat and, once inside, no-loitering
cramps gossips’ itch to fake and rebake news.
But in this plague on all our houses, these
quiet compensations don’t last long.
Two weeks in, the bubble bursts,
popped by rattled, shaken socialites
too twitchy to enjoy pandemic positives,
frantic on WhatsApp, FaceTime, Zoom.
And just like that, the quiet life is gone.
Ann Gibson