Under The Skin

                                                               Under The Skin

                                                                          *
 

                   Come, meet me in the dark with outstretched hands,
                   I would not know your colour or your kind;
                   And do not speak, in case my biased mind
                   Forms judgement long before it understands
                   The words you use.  Conceal from me the lands
                   You've travelled through, the culture that's entwined
                   In all your thoughts, the politics you find
                   Acceptable, the ground where your faith stands.
                   If I could come as nakedly as you,
                   Abandoning my way of life and creed,
                   Forgetting those ideas I'm closest to
                   And recognising what I really need;
                   Could we, for just a moment, see right through
                   Our diverse layers to our common seed? 

     

Not all bad . . .

The coronavirus has brought grief, fear and economic breakdown.  It has also given rise to a sense of global uncertainty and impotence.

Nonetheless, may I, for a moment, put forward the argument that the situation is not all bad

Take climate change.
The almost total absence of aircraft in our skies, and the marked reduction of vehicles on the roads, has dramatically reduced the carbon emissions we are sending into the atmosphere.  Whilst Covid-19 may not have stopped climate change, it has certainly slowed down its formerly rapid progress towards ecological breakdown.

Take self-isolation.
This may be, and is, frustrating and limiting . . . but it has also produced innumerable acts of generosity and kindness.
It has brought communities together, and it has forced a society, which formerly never even paused between actions, to sit and reflect.

Self-isolation has caused us all to look out of our windows and ponder on what we can see . . . it has given us time to think.

When going out into our gardens, thanks to the absence of aircraft and traffic, we notice the birdsong.
Each day thousands of people are now joining the Facebook page of 'Rewilding Britain'. 
Why?  Because, for the first time in their lives, they're eager to identify the individual birds by their song.

And then there are the unexpected benefits.
All the homeless of London have been taken off the streets and housed and cared for in a large hotel.
Over half a million people have generously volunteered to help the NHS . . . whose selfless, dedicated work has been an inspiration to us all.
The coronavirus has brought the world together in unity of purpose.
Whilst, on a personal level, an opera singer, who is self-isolating in my apartment block, comes on her balcony each afternoon to lighten our day with an operatic aria.

And did you know that, if you visit the Kew Gardens' website, you can now take a tour of the gardens online?
Or that, despite its cancellation, the Chelsea Flower Show is planning a virtual show in May?

We are pausing, we are reflecting, we are learning.  We are discovering how,  as rapacious caterpillars, we ravaged the earth . . . we are considering the best way forward for the future.

And what will we be like when, humbled and thankful, we finally emerge  from our cocoons?

Let's hope we'll be transformed into butterflies . . . altruistic butterflies, ready to embark on a new life on a changed planet.