Farewell The Longest Year

The longest night has been and gone
In this the longest year
The hopes we wished with Auld Lang Syne
Were soon to disappear
No 2020 vision could ever have foreseen
The ravage of a virus
Invading us unseen
Our hospitals were overwhelmed
Our lives became locked down
Shuttered shops and empty streets
In cities and each town
Closed signs at shops and cafes
Employees on furlough
Awaiting a reopening
But others had to go
Care homes banning relatives
To spare their residents
Masks and social distancing
Turned out to make much sense
Youngsters missing schooling
Trips abroad just scrapped
The elderly and lonely
Within their homes left trapped
A second wave and variant
Confined us all in tiers
The rapid rising death toll
Confirmed the worst of fears
But as we ring this bleak year out
And see the New Year in
We hope that with a vaccine
A new dawn will begin
Life as we once knew it
May never quite return
But we have kept together
Hard lessons had to learn
Our NHS now valued
Community the key
So here's to everyone of us
Wherever you may be.