Touch

Touch

A hug would never be the same
That simple way to show you care
Forbidden when the virus came
All contact vanishingly rare

Philosophers of ancient Greece
Would surely not believe a time
Enforceable by state police,
Hugging would become a crime

Incremental measures tough
From shaking hands to elbow taps
And even these were not enough
So, institute two metre gaps

Babies came and loved ones went
At funerals, a handful cried
And others most in need of love
Were told to stay alone, inside

Screens became the default state
Creating zones devoid of soul
Prophylactic plastic plate
Where each were fish within a bowl

A pathogen so small and smart
With sticky arms to hold on fast
Pushed the human race apart
Consigning contact to the past

It is not clear how this will end
Attrition or a total rout
But if privations should extend
Touch we cannot do without.