We
may be in uncharted territory now, where the rigid restrictions on lockdown
have been eased for certain businesses to open even though we are still in the
crisis with significant deaths and increases in the numbers of the
infected. How this policy is meant to
work in curbing the virus’ spread I do not understand.
The Government maintains that the lockdown
is still in operation; but businesses are open today: how are these two
compatible? How are they going to
explain the increase in deaths? Sanchez,
the Spanish President, does not have the mindlessly fanatical following of the
Orange Outrage in the US. Sanchez has a
minority government, his so-called Socialist party bolstered by other minority
left wing parties – who are going to be electorally tainted by participation in
what is an unfolding disaster – and he cannot afford to act without a weather
eye on the threat of yet another election in our chronically divided country.
In a frightening development in the US in
an even more jaw-droppingly awful public performance, Trump has claimed
Absolute Authority – perhaps the logical extension for an unfixed populist
demagogue. Virtually everything that
Trump has done has pushed at the limits of what The Founders feared when they
wrote the Constitution. The very
federalist foundations of the US state are being tested and we know which way
Trump would have voted when the title of ‘King’ was considered for the leader
of the new American state!
The fascist roots of the “America First”
slogan are revealing and limiting; just as the petty-minded Brexiteers with
their “Britain First” ideology underpinning their xenophobic, nationalistic,
narrow-mindedness have led to Britain not participating in an EU led attempt to
use their clout to purchase PPE at advantageous rates. Virus does not respect national boundaries, I
would much rather be part of the widest effort supra-nationally to combat a
common danger than to be apart and weaker.
How many times must it be reiterated that nationalism and narrow,
insular politics will lead to unnecessary death?
My
second trip to the shop. Singular, it is
only one, we don’t go to a few, just the one and then home. What isn’t there we don’t have. Simple.
I truly hate wearing the masks and the
wearing of glasses seems to add to the irritation of the experience. In deference to Toni’s stern strictures of
not touching the face once one is out of the safety of the house, I was
considering some form of elastication to keep them from slipping down my nose,
but then I remembered lenses. So, for
the first time for a long time, I put my lenses in. I do like the range of focus that lenses give
as opposed to glasses, but I have bifocal needs for my eyes and therefore I need reading glasses
with lenses – though I can usually make do if the print is not too small. I am used to living in a variously out of
focus world, so I can accept clarity that is approximate for most of the time!
Given the fact of Sanchez’ loosening of the
lockdown, though he claims he hasn’t - in the face of the facts, there was
appreciably more traffic on the way to Lidl and more I could see when the road
crossed over the motorway. But still,
markedly down on a normal (whatever that means nowadays) Tuesday.
Lidl’s too was fuller than on my last
visit, but that might have been because I was later in the morning than my
previous jaunt. Most people were wearing
masks, and I have to say that those who were not were, how shall I put it,
obviously noticed by the other people in the shop. People are, quite clearly, wary of each
other.
Social distancing, where possible, was
observed, though passing in aisles was sometimes more intimate than one would
have liked. The Checkouts were well done
with distances pasted on the floor to keep us a reasonable distance apart.
Most of the stuff that we wanted was
there, though this time I didn’t even look for radishes, so who knows if they
are now back on the shelves.
Most importantly for me, the 15 month
matured Cheddar cheese was there and so I bought a few extra to freeze. I know that defrosted cheese is not quite the
same as the natural type, but it is a bloody sight better than nothing.
In the way that irony happens, as soon as
I got home and Toni started unpacking and wiping the purchases before putting
them away, there was a buzz on the doorbell and the 2kg of award-winning local
cheese was deposited on the wall for me to collect. Well, as I, though indubitably not Toni,
would say, one cannot have too much cheese!
So, apart from fresh bread, we are now set
for another week of isolation. At least
today, the depressing rain of yesterday has vanished (though not entirely
evaporated) and the sun is shining down.
My ‘Poems
in Holy Week’ chapbook, now entitled Coasts
of Memory, is taking shape, with a number of fairly substantial edits in
the drafts that you can find on my poetry blog: smrnewpoems.blogspot.com
As usual, the
technical layout aspects taking up an inordinate amount of time, but as Toni
says, “You love it!” and there is something deeply satisfying is seeing a book
(albeit a fairly short one) take professional shape. Or at least as professional a shape as I can
make it!
