There’ll be a day, hopefully not long from now.

There’ll be a day, hopefully not long from now
when families will be reunited with cuddles and kisses 
not pixels on screens 
or live streams 
but people, together
and our hands will heal.
 
Friends will sit side by side, laughing 
as we occupy our favourite spaces again
signs saying ‘temporarily closed’ 
and ‘hope to see you soon’ on the doors
will go, and then we’ll have to book in advanced
to get that coveted window seat, like before.

There’ll be a day, hopefully not long from now
where we’ll relish the company of strangers
shake hands when we meet them
greet people on the street with hellos and smiles
and ‘how are you, it’s been a while?’ 

We’ll go outside and breathe in deeply,
not the stuff that flows in through our windows and doors
but the freshest air from the trees
we’ll notice birds and bees and flowers and we’ll see beauty
in things we’d started to forget to take notice of.

There’ll be a day, hopefully not long from now
when our neighbours will be out in their gardens
with friends round having barbecues
listening to tunes until late night clouds of reds and blues fill the sky

We will kiss with no delay and not think twice
about stealing a lick of chocolate chip ice cream
as we walk holding hands on a balmy day
We’ll head into town and hold doors open for others
and our lovers will move our hair away from our faces
as strands get stuck in our lipgloss
and we’ll all talk about things that don’t matter, together again.

There’ll be a day, hopefully not long from now.