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Thursday 9 September 2021

The Minister is Tired

If you could just give the minister a moment.
These times have been hard
Reading regulations 
Installation of sanitisation
Adding things 
Cancelling things 
Changing things 
Exchanging things 
Putting things away 
Taking them back out - we know more today.
Studying virology 
Epidemiology 
Crowd psychology
Eschatology
Hybrid services
With cameras overheating 
The odd virtual meeting 
While half say "it's nice doing face to face"
And others refuse to be in the same place 
As anyone who's not triple-vaxed
Vacuum-packed
Shrink-wrapped
In HazMat
suits. You
wouldn't believe the scenes 
Looking at countless Zoom screens
Then remembering on the third Wednesday it's Teams
Because Zoom fails to work 
On Jenny's  Chromebook.
Holding virtual hands
With the dying. Checking the latest rules 
On hospital visiting.
Uncle Jim's funeral by the graveside
Because Aunty Joan won't go inside.
Wedding guests that won't go masked 
No matter how nicely asked
Even with Grandma's condition 
And the bride's dad's only in remission.
(And the changes to the Wedding Regs
Have left the minister running on the dregs
Of energy 
And sanity
And stability
And mental agility.)
And no chance of rest 
from the Lateral Flow Test.
Communion in the hand? On the tongue?
In the garden? Bring your own?
And the inside, outside, all the sides
In Covidtide.
People who worship in masks
Those who focus on irrelevant cleaning tasks 
Those who are scared stiff by the news
Those so reckless, they're licking the pews.
Trying to discern 
what is this normal to which everyone wants to return 
So if the minister looks a little gray 
at the Zoom Communion today
please don't think 
it's  your screen needs adjusting - 
it's her colour balance on the blink.
It's been a long time.
And the minister is tired.


3 comments:

  1. That she is, that she is
    but grateful that others got tired with her.
    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, Archdruid; describes it perfectly.

    ReplyDelete

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