#SonnetsFromTheTortureDays 100: History

It’s day 100! Thanks to everyone who has read these, and especially to Niamh for all the love and encouragement, and to Anathema, Keira, and Charlie for the consistent social media validation. It helped more than you know.

It’s been difficult for my to write a specifically dystopian poem given the circumstances, but I do like to have at least one of those in these 100 day things, so here you go.

To end with the cliché of the year, but in iambic pentameter:

Stay safe, in these unprecedented times.

x

Sez

In ten years time, what will the children ask us?
“What was Coronavirus like? Were you

A keyworker, and if so, was your task as
Dangerous as our teachers say, to do?”

“My homework’s about ‘Life in 2020’
And you’re quite old: you must have been alive!
So what was lockdown like? You must have plenty
Of anecdotes about how you survived!”

I hope that’s what they ask us, but I’m nearly
Sure: future generations will have more
Disturbing questions. “Wow, did people really
Touch other people, in the time before?

I read something online and I thought ‘This is
Really gross!’ So tell me: what on earth were “kisses“?”