Social distancing is one of the many new phrases to have entered our lexicon since Covid-19 became a global pandemic and we all know what the practice means even if some foolish people don’t adhere to it.
Whilst on our daily exercise outings, Jane and I frequently encounter other walkers and our behaviour towards one another is reflected in this lighthearted poem.
The poem's also a respectful nod to the memory of the great English poet and former Poet Laureate, William Wordsworth, who was born in the month of April.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS
On foot, on bicycles, they pass
too close.
We shrink away
but smile to hide embarrassment
that we regard them
as a threat to health
while they smile back,
embarrassed too,
for having caused the grave offence
of straying too much in our path.
Such strange politenesses become
the norm
in these peculiar times
of virus and of virus-fear.
Whereas last autumn
we’d have passed
a group of others unremarked,
this spring
we mumble greetings, wave,
and even cyclists get a nod.
A kind of mutuality
has sprung up with the daffodils:
no longer lonely as a cloud,
we have acquired new social skills.
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