Unprecedented how we live
Our normal lives fall through the sieve
We clutch at straws and new words spawn
To help us weather this harsh storm*.
Our dictionaries are updated
Some catchwords can’t be overstated:
Think ‘furlough’, ‘lockdown’ and ‘staycation’
Born without an invitation.
We’re promised vaccines – that’s good news!
Should we try them? What’s to lose?
‘Flu jabs and/or COVID tests
Will help us safely ride the crest.
Asymptomatic? Who’s to know
Through whom the virus will now flow?
We isolate and live in fear
With a “Typhoid Mary” syndrome near...
An Irish cook, New York connected
Who 53 poor souls infected …
Such virus-carriers cause a chill;
So ‘Super Spreader’ fits the bill!
(c) Poet in the woods 2020
Note: the 4 underlined words are now added to the O.E.D. (Oxford English Dictionary).
* The COVID epidemic
Mary Mallon 1869-1938
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