’Twas right around Christmas in twenty-two-oh,

A year hardly normal in life’s ebb and flow.

Who could have dreamed that we’d have such a hassle,

Forcing us all to spend months in our “castles.”

 

There’s no doubt about what was on all our minds,

Quarantines, pandemics, germs of all kinds.

As soon as the virus from China took hold,

Frontline responders became brave and bold.

 

Shouts and applause greeted workers who showed

The best of humanity would not be slowed.

To them a great debt will always be owed,

Thanks from us all for bearing the load.

 

The virus spread quickly, with no one immune,

And only the cleanliness industries boomed.

Don’t go to dinner and don’t go to flics,

Stay out of the churches and any group mix.

 

Go to the grocery as fast as you can,

And make sure a mask is a part of your plan.

Retailers scrambled to keep traffic flowing

But many saw profits just slowing and slowing.

 

Heading to school meant a log-in to Zoom,

Forget about class in the usual room.

Teachers tried tricks to get learning across,

Might as well teach an old dog how to floss.

 

Then came a hybrid, some in and some out,

Multiple lessons are not a good route.

Kids are just programmed to be with their peers,

To share in their fears, and their tears, and their cheers.

 

Sports on the whole were a little bit odd,

Nobody playing on hard court or sod.

And then came the games played with no one in sight,

Not even some fake noise could make that quite right.

 

The Chiefs and the Lakers and Dodgers stood tall,

But only K.C. had real fans wall to wall.

The Masters was held when the leaves were all turning,

The Derby was late with its horses’ hooves churning.

 

Major League Baseball was back for a bit,

Sixty games better than nil, we admit.

NBA players all lived in a bubble,

Hoping to keep out of medical trouble.

 

Cities erupted in protests and pain,

George and Breonna, your deaths weren’t in vain.

Looting and shooting made everything terse,

Fanning the flames and encouraging worse.

 

Police were the targets and victims as well,

Middle ground has to be found where we dwell.

Protection is one right we all can embrace,

And never, no never, dictated by race.

 

Just to make sure we had something to do,

America voted a president new.

At least for the moment we think Joe is who,

Not all have accepted that verdict as true.

 

The country, we think, is preparing for Biden,

Although is there something that Hunter is hidin’?

Trump made it clear he’ll keep fighting the fight,

The election, he says, really wasn’t quite right.

 

Voting suspicions crept up in close states,

Ballots and signatures searching for mates.

Many more turned out than ever before,

Standing in lines that snaked well out the doors.

 

Were there some votes that were cast by the dead?

Lawyers filed briefs, and that’s what they said.

Michigan, PA, Georgia and more

All did their recounts to settle the score.

 

Icons from all walks of life left the stage,

Kobe too early and Ruth from old age.

Philbin and Reiner and Boseman and Cain,

Lewis and Connery and others of fame.

 

Alas, many more filled up hearses and graves

As Covid claimed thousands in wave after wave.

Victims too often did not last too long,

Even for those who had seemed rather strong.

 

TV and movies cut way back on shows,

Leaving us binging on series we chose.

Netflix and YouTube gained many new fans,

As viewings at home became regular plans.

 

No one could travel, though planes were all there,

Sitting on tarmacs, pleading for fares.

Not even car trips were thought of as fun,

You could pick up Covid while out on the run.

 

Holidays often were spent without fam,

Some had Thanksgiving with Spam from a can.

Many a neighbor just gave you a wave

As each of you sighed and went back to your cave.

 

But even with all of the gloom and the doom

There still was a quota of brides with their grooms.

Babies were born and as always brought joy,

Girls in pink outfits and blue for the boys.

 

Once they get older, they’ll learn from their folks

How many felt burdened this year by thick yokes.

Normal was changed ’cause along came a mutant,

Worse than a manmade, destructive pollutant.

 

But just as the year ends, some hope may be had,

Vaccines are a’comin’ and man, are we glad.

Roll up your sleeve and get ready to dance,

A new day is dawning, another new chance.

 

Let’s not forget, though, the lessons we learned,

It’s all not quite over so let’s not get burned.

Keep all those cautions in place for a while,

And soon we’ll say “Howdy” with uncovered smiles.

 

©MMXX. William J. Lewis, III  – Freelance Writer