It was too quiet in those weeks
no cars rumbling past
no children singing their way to school.
The fresh smells and colours of Spring
reclaimed streets and towns
birds popped into view, posed on lampposts
dawdled on warm car roofs
sauntered across unbusy roads.
Fear has a taste and it is this
the dread of an invisible invader
the unwelcome peace of a street.
Copyright © 2021 Kim Whysall-Hammond
Another memory of the first UK lockdown in March 2020