Lock Down Forever

As Lock Down eases here in the UK, the agony of permanent isolation and endless neglect for the most severely ill, is much more acute, as Linda expresses in this terribly poignant poem :

They make me feel lonely.
They do,

With their laughter and easy chatter,

The sound of champagne corks bursting 

And the general loud jollity of 
their gathering,

Echoing across the garden

To me,

Sitting

In isolation

Not just for Lock Down’s sake

But

Always.

For their noise 

Is a danger to my health

The champagne uncorking

Paralysed my left leg

Increased my pain

Blanked my mind further

Left me stumbling, down the garden path 

to find seat.

As people start to meet up

Have garden parties

And begin to mill about again

Or cycle at speed past my door,

Let us remember the truth

That the virus has not actually gone away

Despite the frivolity

It's still there

Lurking

And can still kill

The innocent by stander

Who has no chance of survival.

As they dismember the support chains,

Will the understanding still be there

I wonder?

The understanding that separation

And isolation brings?

The recognition of the danger other people

Inadvertently impose upon you?

The need to reach out 

And-still try to include the unincluded

And the not easily includible,

Who are always hidden from sight,

Struggling with complex Chronic illness,

Still here after everyone has moved on?

Still in need of a helping hand, a friendly gesture?’

Will the institutions still continue 

To offer virtual teaching,

Virtual GP consultations?

Consultant level specialist appointments?

Will I ever not feel invisible

Unseen

Unknown

Neglected

And not understood?

Will I still continue

To ache

With a deep loneliness,

Etched out of years

Of separation,

Negation,

Deliberate ignorance

And profound illness?