ANGST OF CORONA IN SPRINGTIME (Satis Shroff)

ANGST OF CORONA IN SPRINGTIME (Satis Shroff)

It’s early morning in the Schwarzwald,

Blackbirds, finches and robins await me

Patiently with humble bird-cries,

As they spring and dart about

In the hillside undergrowth.

A thrush is trying to crack a Spanish chestnut.

Below the birch trees,

A chaffinch and sparrows are picking busily.

* * *

The word control crops up,

When the theme is corona.

Medical checkpoints at the border,

To get controlled and go to Germany.

Control points at Iffizheim, Rheinau,

European bridge at Kehl

And Weil-Friedlingen.

No trains, ferries and buses

To France and Switzerland

If you’re Alsatian you need

A medical attest to cross the border.

* * *

Springtime is here and gives us hope,

Against the angst of corona:

Psychologically and epidemiologically.

Corona has spread from Wuhan

To Italy, Spain and across the Atlantic.

Enjoy Spring but stick to the rules:

No taverns and pubs,

Walk alone or in twos.

Three is a crowd.

Even unwashed glasses can spread the virus.

It you have to drink beer

Drink without a glass.

Infection everywhere.

* * *

Landesvater Kretschmann says:

‘We all have to bear responsibility

For each other.’

Words like solidarity and Vernunft ring  in the air.

Children are forbidden to visit grandparents

Because of their weaker immune systems.

Schools and Kndergardens close,

Even the Abitur is postponed.

No Bundesliga soccer.

Even Nippon has postponed the Olympic Games.

The athletes have no desire to fraternise with others.

Emergency in many countries.

The infection rate rises dramatically,

With more dead and infected.

* * *

Ah, Spring brings hope optimism,

The sun is joyously welcome

After cold, frosty, melancholic nights.

Some neighbours indulge in Spring cleaning.:

I do my share along my Himmelsleiter,

The ladder to Heaven,

And bring order in the garden.

Order is half a lifetime.

A tidy mind is half the battle.

A lot of pruning of deadwood,

And cutting of branches.

Green life finally emerge

From the seemingly lifeless garden.

* * *

Challenges for governments

And crisis management.

Humans react differently to stress.

It takes a long time to get things done

In a federal setting;

Where federal states decide on their own,

Till Merkel  speaks her Machtwort.

A cure is not in sight against corvid-19,

The pandemy should only be slowed.

Corona brings health and economic risks.

When the people have angst,

The shopkeepers stare at their wares.

No customers means people lose their jobs.

How do you feed the family?

Trump calls corona a European infection

And later says it’s a Chinese one.

Asian men and women get bashed

In the streets of America,

By white supremists.

Italy feels left alone by the European Union.

China and Cuba help Italy.

The rich Chinese are helping themselves

By buying up Italy.

* * *

On a pleasant morning I head for the Freiburger Stadtpark.

The Kaiser Joseph Strasse is empty,

No people around.

The town council looks deserted.

A ghost town.

Aside from the few ducks,

The city garden is empty.

Cops in cars drive around.

The flowers are in bloom:

Lovely magnolias, colourful hyacinths,

And orange-red poppies sway with the wind.

It’s the end of March 2020,

Over 10,000 dead in Italy.

Around the world 26,800 people

Have succumbed to Corona.

The USA alone has 97,200 cases of covid-19.

How long do we do social distancing?

China, Cuba, North Korea, Russia,

Syria and Venezuela are reeling

Under sanctions from America.

To America it’s unilateral coersive measures,

For these countries the UN is the last straw.

The fear of corona moves us all,

Whether we’re rich or poor.

(c)satisshroff, all rights reserved

* * *