It was like nothing had happened.
People still waved to each other,
cats meowed, dogs tried
not to eat their own turds,
supermarkets opened and needed
bread to be stacked on their shelves
by confused seventeen year olds,
mayonnaise stayed thick, eggs cracked
under pressure, crumbs fell,
muscles and bones and skin grew,
grass got mowed, footballs got kicked,
tarmac still existed: solid,
warm in the sun, death
on countryside lanes at night.

© Carl Burkitt 2021