Signs of life

It starts every morning when I wake up,

As my electric blanket kicks in, the warmth ticks the ‘full body function’ box,

I can feel the weight of my cats, then stroke them; silky Willow and bearlike Woody,

At the window I see a robin, joined by a magpie and then a busy squirrel passes by.

Various neighbours can be heard, especially the really loud girl living upstairs,

The ping of my phone starting, expands my search for evidence of being,

Family venting fears and frustrations, exchanging love and hope,

Sharing book recommendations, film reviews, memes and positivity,

Motherly happy tears with a heart full of pride and relief,

For me, Facebook brings news and love from people I know, it’s a comfort,

Instagram supplies the cute cat pictures and memes to laugh at,

Twitter is a place I’ve created, a bubble of like-minded strangers and it helps,

Global news finds me and, of course, that pandemic with the same name,

Later the postman might knock and sometimes a delivery man arrives,

Yesterday a prescription sent me to the chemist and a cheeky treat…

An M&S beef sarnie and Eton mess dessert, a veritable feast,

I’m fully stocked up until at least next week and chocolate levels are OK,

Lockdown has made our worlds smaller than we ever imagined,

But, after checking for signs of life, it’s where we need to be!