Inspired by an analogy my friend Matt drew my attention to.
(Note for sonnet purists, I know the scansion is off. I was trying for a slightly jolty, unsettling effect. I don’t know if it’s landed, though, or if I just look like I’m crap at iambs.)
Our country voted to take back control.
Thinking that we’d be be better off alone,
And although some of us did moan and groan
Our politicians were quick to extoll
The virtues of quitting the Eurozone
At all costs, independence was our goal.
Yet now we find that we are in a hole:
As Covid-19 hits, we’re on our own.
So people can afford to stop the spread
Of this pandemic, rent and cost of bread
Are being paid, in EU member states.
Our government would sooner see us dead
But don’t complain! We know we sealed our fate
When we decided to self-isolate.
Tom Juniper Poetry 