LOCKDOWN IN BROADCLYST
by Stephen Schlich

Around the block
In sad downlock
I go and go again.

Down to the Clyst
No footsteps missed
I go and go again.

I pass the pub
But there’s the rub
I cannot go inside.

I stare in vain
At Scratcharse Lane
I cannot go inside.

The village store
Sees me no more.
I cannot go inside.

Down to the Clyst
No footsteps missed
I go and go again.

What will unlock
This sad downlock?
I ask and ask again.

Stephen Schlich (a second cousin of mine) is a retired banker aged 87 who lives in Devon. This is the first poem he has written.