Lean Times for Huggy Bear!

Without our friends we cannot live;
Mere on-line contact cannot give
This recognition which means much...
We starve and wither without touch.

Alone, confined, out of harm's way
We hide behind our mask all day
What has happened to mankind?
We keep our distance – or get fined?

Without the warmth of a big hug
Which calms like soporific drug,
We feel rejected, on a limb
What if we rebel – and sin?

Cooped up like a battery hen
Our fate is sealed; we don't know when
We can walk again on grass
And feel the sun's rays as we pass ...

Conflicting rules of 'stop and go'
Should we travel - yes or no?
The urge is strong to pick up pace
Without that damned mask on our face!

But this, we're told, is not to be
As masks are now obligatory
All shapes and sizes swell the trend
But for our hug-less days – no end ...

(c) Poet in the woods 2020