The
days after Christmas were dull;
The sea licked the beach like a cat
Its paws, and the herring gulls hung
In the soft damp air;
The wagtails like williwaws ran
From rain pool to rock on the sand,
And, turning, the tide slowly swung
The pool weed like hair.
But
nothing can halt winter’s cull;
Old men coughed to death in their beds,
Young women had seizures and died,
They scorned carolled claims of new birth,
And fought for the left-over food;
Then virus dug claws in their side,
And their death begun.
The sea licked the beach like a cat
Its paws, and the herring gulls hung
In the soft damp air;
The wagtails like williwaws ran
From rain pool to rock on the sand,
And, turning, the tide slowly swung
The pool weed like hair.
Old men coughed to death in their beds,
Young women had seizures and died,
They scorned carolled claims of new birth,
And fought for the left-over food;
Then virus dug claws in their side,
And their death begun.
====================
Here's an alternative ending to the second stanza for those who like variety:
They scorned the bells’ chimes of new birth,
And gorged on men’s left-over food;
Then virus dug claws in their side,
And they, too, died young.
And gorged on men’s left-over food;
Then virus dug claws in their side,
And they, too, died young.
