Smokescreens And Mask Poem by Mark Heathcote

Today I'm ordered, I'm told to don on our PPE
on the same day, our PM is a guest of honour
at Hexham General Hospital in Northumberland,
caught on camera not wearing one in a corridor.

Today I'm told I didn't check for vaccination status
by the same network Manager who didn't ask me
if I had a mask exemption, which in itself-
contravenes the 2010 discrimination act.

Today many anti-vaxxers are sacked or leave-work
given a final deadline, these heroes are expendable
they're not crucial anymore to our overworked
already depleted once dependable numbers.

Today the world is moving forward out of a pandemic
that leaves us hiding behind smokescreens-and-masks
while the people ask for the truth, why did so many die
that could have, been saved, is their competence to blame?

Today we hear it said again we followed the science,
we followed the science,
we followed the science, attended by walls of silence
But all we really think is what a load of bollocks.