A future outside my window (and the fridge)

If I could look into the future,
I would know what time the butcher
Will deliver for our dinner:
Steak pie, burgers, slice and liver.
So: I’m stuck inside the now
Until the van comes. A painted cow
On the side – just so we know,
‘The butcher’s here!’. Then we can go
A walk along the choppy river,
Dodging folk that stop and dither,
Or refuse to walk in single file!
My lockdown walks should make me smile.
Instead I worry: humans won’t change.
We’ll keep eating meat, driving cars, flying planes.
Forests will burn to make way for more mining;
Wild and domestic life more intertwining.
This is the ‘new normal’. We need to adapt
To ways of life more simple and capped
On what we consume: imagined needs and wants.
We just need a living wage then go on wee jaunts
To see family and friends, and enjoy the birds.
(Even sit in silence – we don’t always need words
To enjoy our fragile and beautiful planet.)
Look out for a blue tit, chaffinch or gannet.
The sun’s shining and I’m desperate to get out
But the butcher’s no here yet. I feel put out.
Do I really need all this meat in my diet?
I used to be veggie so perhaps I should try it?

If we pull together for a future more green
Maybe we’d be safe from things like COVID-19.