Anyone experiencing mixed feelings about the latest easing of lockdown in the UK? The tonnes of litter left in public parks, the return of traffic jams on roads to the coast? Earlier this week the poet laureate Simon Armitage read a new poem, ‘Cocoon’, to mark the moment on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Here it is:

 

COCOON

by Simon Armitage

 

Where did the world go?

Once round the sun then landed us right here

Back where we started from

Conquistadors of the high street and malls

Bold explorers of swimming baths and service stations

And superstores. Pioneers of the new world

Which is the old world wearing a nervous smile

Think of your hand or arm brushing actual skin

Imagine breathing a stranger in

First contact, close encounters

A butterfly yawns and hoists its new born wings

To the full blown dawn

Once round the sun then the doors open and

Touch wood, cross fingers, cue fanfare

Out we come.