Pandemic

The silence hurt The empty hours Aching to be filled With meaningful activity With encouraging words The office abandoned The empty desks Unread bookcases Files to be scrutinised Would things ever revert? The hubbub of colleagues The banter in the corridor The incidental exchange of ideas The shared insights on the whiteboard The feeling of team A form of family All a distant memory Not a worthy competitor Not a godforsaken war Not a foreign power But an infinitesimally small Invisible enemy Out of nowhere Has changed everything Causing a revolution In the path of evolution Economy thwarted Jobs lost Education abandoned Caught us all by surprise Made us hunker in our homes Afraid to come out Hiding behind screens Hiding behind masks Scrubbing hands religiously Avoiding those we hold dear Each interpreting the guidelines differently Applying tailored logic Trust breached Will life ever return to where it was?