Of Dangerous Liaisons Poem by David Wood

The sullen cold grey morning drive
Of slow smouldering fire stone
Slowly followed behind other metal
Chariots cocooning intense faces
Full of monotonous languor to
Unknown destinations

Angry low clouds of competing
Shades of grey imposed their will
Depositing rain on the unlucky
Footsteps hurriedly walking
Now stooped with heads bent
Umbrellas pointing skywards

A concrete car park void of trees
Where masked faces hurry from the
Rain for provisions to fill emptying
Larders fridges or freezers join queues
At dull grey checkouts, every item
Beeping their codes in unison

The tense Covid landscape prevents
Lingering touching or even kissing
Or the closeness of courting couples
As every timid breath may be a warning
Of impending forced isolation or a longer
Period of hospitalisation in the near future

Masked faces endeavour to be free from
Such hazards swiftly disgorge themselves
From the perilous airs where Covid
Lingers in minuscule aerosol droplets
Waiting to claim their next unwary victim
Like how a cat toys with a mouse