Reflections of a tour guide during lockdown: a poem.



Minutes become hours, hours become days,
Days become weeks, weeks become a haze.
Two months have passed closed indoors,
No museums to visit, not even the stores.

The days are long, the days are tedious,
No sign of a train, a plane or an open bus.
The airport’s closed, and the ports too,
No chance of even going to the zoo.

Like the statue in the picture, the dog sits at my feet,
Not a person, not a family, not a group to meet.
Lying back on the sofa with many a dream,
Missing my fellow tour guides, oh what a team!

The lack of work gives me shivers,
How I miss Bernini’s Four Rivers.
The Colosseum is closed, also the Forum,
No visitors to help us reach the quorum.

You won’t find open any site of UNESCO,
Impossible an audience with Pope Francesco.
The churches, the fountains, and all around,
Without any tourists, there is barely a sound.

But May has arrived and with it good news,
Soon we will have once more our views.
The lockdown is not over, but it is less,
Now we go out, we hope it is a success.

Two months indoors, and lots of studying,
Ready for people and the phone that will ring.
Where to go first, write it down in a log,
Need some ideas? Just read my blog!


Written by: Robert Coghlan
Photo by: Robert Coghlan

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