Inspiration for this came in an email I got today from one of my sainted spouses former college roommates. Ann lives in Michigan and sent me this. . .
Oh, the Places You CANNOT Go!
With Apologies to Dr. Seuss*
Condolences….
Today’s NOT your day.
You’re confined to your house.
You can’t get away.
‘Though there’s brains in your head,
Could be germs on your shoes;
So you can’t steer yourself to any place that you choose.
You’re NOT on your own.
You don’t know what you know.
The Governor’s the gal who’ll decide where you’ll go!
Don’t look up or down streets -
The Gov doesn’t care;
Because all she can say is, “NO, you CANNOT go there!”
If there are streets that you cannot go down,
You might want to head straight out of town,
Up north, to the lake to the wide open air
Where fresh breezes blow; folks were friendlier there.
“NO! NO!” says the Gov that’s a thing you can’t do.
My executive orders are smarter than you.
“I’m the smart one in town. I know ALL there’s to know;
So I’ll make the list of
Places you CANNOT go!”
Oh the places you cannot go!
There’s no fun to be done; No points to be scored; No games to be won;
No skating on ice; No bouncing of balls;
No batting, No racing, and No teeing off!
No fun thing you can do that might involve others.
Heaven forbid you should visit your mother!
You can’t go to restaurants, theaters or bars.
You can't even ride with strangers in cars.
Alone, all alone - like it or not.
Alone is something you’ve been quite a lot.
And when you’re alone there’s a very good chance
that virus could scare you right out of your pants.
The lockdown drags on at a bone grinding pace
With nowhere to go but to….
Whitmer’s Waiting Place.
*Whitmer’s Waiting Place...for people just… waiting.
Waiting in long lines for some food to go,
for the buses to run, for a garden to hoe,
Toilet paper to come, or the snow to finally go,
Waiting around for a “Yes” - not a “NO”,
Watching helplessly
As your hair continues to grow.
You can’t go to school. Who cares if you learn?
You can't even visit the bottle return.
No libraries are open - you can't read their books
Your grey roots are showing - too bad how it looks!
The Gov needs reminding
Life’s a Balancing Act
And WE can decide how we want to react.
Give us some credit, quit saying “Nay”
We can survive COVID
Let us get on our way!
*Oh The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss is a popular book during graduation season. I offer this version for the current COVID19 season in Michigan.
Anne Gnagi
* I presume "Whitmer's Waiting Place" is an imaginary place, where the things mentioned in this paragraph - all involving waiting - are permitted by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer...
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