Bright daffodils! now almost done

Pale tulips popping, just begun

Woodpeckers banging for a mate

Buttercups rampant by the gate . . .

Spring can feel a bit sarcastic

When life's jam-packed with cruel and drastic

News — plague, murder, air crash, fire, flood —

Nova Scotians drenched in blood

In calm and quiet Portapique

Vile ambush of the bold and meek

All slaughtered by a pseudo-cop

Who deemed some lives just had to stop

So that he — could feel some better?

Because — he got a dear John letter?

Or text? . . . who knows? while Covid ill

Gasp, die alone — the ice-cold will

Of reasoned health authority

On high . . . protecting you and me,

Pushing infected folk aside

To die, untouched and terrified,

From viral filth — lovers, strangers

Children, beasts: all vectors, dangers.

The leaders argue, disagree

On what to keep and what to flee

But most have come to one conclusion

(Though much that's stated seems illusion

And some will just do as some please)

No more close contacts with disease.

A wholesome goal, though to comply

Is harder than it is to try.

Some won't be barred, for sneeze or cough

From doing that which gets them off

Some call to "sacrifice the weak!"

And speak for those who cannot speak

(Because of tubes lodged in their throats).

Some NEED to crowd those party boats,

Or fly to Cancun, or Peru,

Or bop out for a brand new 'do.

Some cherish the economy

Sing sullen songs of "me me me."

And then — a helicopter fall,

Abrupt, from blue Greek sky, all

On board killed, no virus needed.

Pained prayers of loved ones go unheeded

As if to baffle the belief

That only bad folk merit grief —

The dead are named "Canadian heroes"

Is this a comfort? Yes! No! Who knows?

Meanwhile, too-early spring wildfires

Vie with spring floods — thus all conspires

To make a joke of 'needs,' and wants

"Your NORMAL life?" New Normal taunts . . . .