Have spent most of today finalising the update to my online poetry, almost all of my 1200-ish poems are now online, sorted broadly by period and book, if published.
My sniffles continue but I feel that the worst is over, though I rarely sneeze, and this infection or virus feels rather mild and long. I hope that it is indeed fading rather than becoming a long term problem, as the virus in the news might complicate any potential treatment or, indeed, prognosis.
The world's money is in turmoil due to 'insecurity' over the future, but for me the future is relatively certain. I expect that Coronavirus will afflict most people in the world, that a cure or vaccine will be developed by July 2021 but that, until then, health systems, and all sectors of the economy will grind to an almost complete halt; travel and tourism, luxury goods, concerts. After that, the economy will start to recover.
This said, my optimistic predictions have often turned out to be wrong, particularly over Brexit. Everything in Britain, and the world, seems to have got worse after that vote, 4 years ago. It was an instant turning point downwards from which we have far from recovered.
If I were the prime minister I'd probably be extreme and 'lock down' Britain itself, stopping all international travel and keeping all gatherings to a minimum until a vaccine is developed. This would be very costly, but probably save the most lives, and not necessarily be any more costly than riding the storm of the next, stormy, 18 months.
Such developments remind me that art that comments on current trends or concerns is quickly out of date.
I'm full of creative ideas. Perhaps this is partly due to the energy of crisis. I must hammer at the Apocalypse of Clowns music until that is complete.
