Quieter roads, fewer aircraft, cleaner air

The present conspiracy theory doing

The rounds where I live is that grumpy

Old Trump so incensed by the Chinese

Telecoms giant Huawei, set about getting

His own back by secretly infecting Wuhan,

A port city of 11 million people with the

Coronavirus.

True or false it matters not, but what

Does make a difference though is the

Notable change in people’s habits and

Attitude to life. Suddenly the roads are

Quieter, fewer aircraft aloft, the air is

Cleaner, families are gathering around

The kitchen table once more, less going

Out, more time for hobbies, cooking at

Home, suddenly the volume has been

Clipped, giving people time to think and

Time to take stock.

Yes, lots of jobs are presently at risk,

But perhaps they always were, and

Perhaps nature is telling us something?

Already where I live people are looking

At better ways of doing their jobs, why

Travel to work on smelly crowded trains?

Why must we so cheerily breathe the

Fumes of the car in front when with a

Little thought and a little creativity life

Could be so much better.

The coronavirus is teaching us much,

Doctors are already aware of better

Ways of conducting their surgeries,

And further streamlining is on the way,

Just as sure as the internet shopper

Killed off the high street store.

Coronavirus is not perhaps War of

The Worlds, The Day the Earth Died

Screaming or indeed The Day the

Earth Stood Still, but it is and will be

Sufficient I suspect to bring change

About from which there will be little

Sliding back. Production will come

Home from afar, our reliance upon

Ill-run factories on the other side of

The globe will diminish and inventors

And entrepreneurs young and old will

Begin to look at doing things with a

Level of novelty and originality unseen

Since The First Industrial Revolution.

For all the woes brought about by the

Coronavirus, it will end and with it will

Come a new beginning. Yes, firms will

Close and new firms will open, it is the

Way of the world, as one door closes

Another door opens. The coronavirus

May turn out to be the pruning shears

That brought us to our senses.

© Joseph G Dawson
14/03/202