Uncertainty

[As we watch the coronavirus developments]

Uncertainty the order of the day
All our lives in disarray
Don’t greet each other with a hug
In case you catch the fearful bug

Do like those who live in Rome
Lock the door and stay at home?
Stop those outings to the gym
Only phone your kith and kin

When will they tell us what to do?
Experts all seem in a stew
What do the pundits advocate?
Congregate or isolate

Some welcome this peculiar pause
Do I hear their loud applause?
A break from everyday routine
Let’s not rush to reconvene

But perhaps we should not be so rash
From whence will come much needed cash?
If out of work we don’t get paid
By empty hands we’ll be dismayed

Goodbye to all life’s normal pleasures
When our routine is enforced leisure
Who will rid us of this scourge?
Let’s hope a cure might soon emerge

Of course most of us are still alive
Although share prices quickly dive
Now the most needed new invention
A cure to save my ailing pension!

In the meantime it’s still a waiting game
Not solved by any insurance claim
Uncertain we must thus remain
Until this vile tide is on the wane

Ken Fisher