Signs Of The Times

Signs of the Times

Wherever you go, whatever you want to do,
There’ll be hundreds of signs to guide you through.

There are signs on the windows, signs on the doors,
Big banners on walls, and signs all over floor.

New signs by the roadside, pavements stencilled with feet,
Signs indicating where you can or can’t meet.

Cafe tables and counters are totally sign smothered,
There is hardly a space that hasn’t been covered.

Large QR Code posters that have to be scanned,
To help track and trace you all over the land.

Keep to the left here or keep to the right there,
Signs showing enter or exit, or no thoroughfare.

My brain is overloaded with signage instructions,
Plastered all over trains, buses and building constructions.

Pubs, restaurants and shops take special measures to safeguard,
But their signs say no cash please, just pay up by card.

Everywhere you look there are hazard-taped zones,
And signs saying download the NHS App on your phone.

Signs with big arrows pointing in every direction,
All designed to keep us safe from the Covid infection.

Signs showing you how to cough or sneeze, but not spit,
And signs everywhere telling you were you can’t sit.

Stop, do not enter signs, writ large in red,
If you’ve got any symptoms, go back home to bed.

Of course, all these signs are to help, guide and inform,
To get through this Pandemic, we must accept it’s the norm.

But my poor eyes are strained, so many signs to be read,
So I think I’ll self-isolate in my sign free home instead.

Karen Stoker ©️ 05/10/20