Riding the pandemic waves

This poem was inspired by my return to the office this week, the first time in three months I had to use my swipe card, sit at my desk, say hi to whole people (and not just their head and shoulders). It was also the tail end of the school holidays.

The return
Like seagulls returning to feed
on calm waters,
we are returning to the places
we used to frequent.
Pecking over the remains
of what we discarded in a rapid
uptake of self
preservation.

Once quiet streets
are once more crowded
with shopping bags and
families in search
of post lunch restrooms
before they check timetables
for their train home.
My ears are full
and my thoughts drowned out.
I yearn for the silence
as I return to the flock.