Max Boyce, the Welsh comedian; poet and song writer has recently written a poem that encapsulates almost all our thoughts during the COVID-19 lockdown called “When Just The Tide Went Out” here it is in full.
‘When Just The Tide Went Out' "Last night as I lay sleeping, when dreams came fast to me I dreamt I saw JERUSALEM beside a tideless sea And one dream I’ll remember as the stars began to fall Was Banksy painting Alun Wyn on my neighbour’s garage wall And dreams like that sustain me ’til these darkest times have passed And chase away the shadows no caring night should cast But times like this can shine a light as hardship often can To see the best in people and the good there is in man And I remember Swansea with nobody about The shops were closed like Sunday and just the tide went out And I remember Mumbles with the harbour in its keep And the fishing boats at anchor that trawl the waters deep And I heard the seabirds calling as the gulls all wheeled about But all the town was sleeping now and just the tide went out And when these days are over and memories remain When children painted Rainbows and the sun shone through the rain And the doctors and the nurses who stretchered all the pain And I hope the carers never see a time like this again And I prayed last week for Boris, who knocked on Heavens door And I thought of voting Tory, which I’ve never done before And though the sun is shining I’ve no immediate plans So I’ll write a book on ‘Staying In’ and ‘Ways To Wash Your Hands’ And now more days of lockdown, 3 weeks of staying in I’m running out of vodka and I’ve started on the gin And my neighbours are complaining, I’ve heard them scream and shout With the sound the bins are making when I take the empties out And when all this is over, and our fragile world survives And I hope that God is caring now for the ones who gave their lives And I pray we’ll find an answer, for my faith is cast in doubt And God draws back the heavens and all the stars come out And I’ll remember mornings with nobody about When the shops were closed like Sunday, and just the tide went out."
