Yesterday
Holiday planned, flights booked
Sunlit children laughing in early spring
Dull intonations in a fusty classroom
An amorous amble down a sunset avenue The dropping quiet of church, mosque and temple
Grey rain and the running late, always late
Flirting in a bar, rapture in the gallery
The roar of the Kop, the Stretford End, the Bridge
A sorry morning after the roistering before
The path down Eskdale to a glimpse
Of the glinting sea
Today
The sleepless anxiety over
Things no longer certain
The solitary, elderly relative
A sick friend who doesn't pick up
The constant reading of statistics
About the chances of death
The ever-racing thoughts
About where it all might end
But also today
The small gestures of solidarity
The food parcel on a doorstep
The kiss blown across the street
The Skype chatter, the FaceTime grin
The nurse ready in the teeth of it all
Our symbols of hope for now
Today
And tomorrow?
We will soon dare to think of tomorrow
By Graham Hopwood
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