Until Further Notice

I braved the storm today.

Masked up,

arms bare.

Dystopian mode operational.

Filtering out the sandy wisps.

Scouting out the wasteland

for some pasta

and a couple packs of crisps.

I’m the protagonist of this story.

Britain’s answer to Mad Max

with snacks instead of gas.

A tribute in the Hunger Games,

satisfying hunger pains.

Legs burning

like the turning wheels on a

red iconic bike.

I refuse to be left to fester

Fuck New York

Escape from Leicester

.

Is what I’d like to say.

I don’t think I could survive

another day

without turning my life

into some kind of tv show.

Pretend this is all scripted;

That I could’ve predicted

how fast

they wrote the plot twist in it.

And how in just one minute,

it wiped out half the cast.

I thought I wanted chaos

and disruption.

My own personal dystopia.

Be a hero.

The survivor.

Find the cure.

Scavenge the supplies

with Katniss in the cornucopia.

But there's no co-actor.

The set has changed

to a desert made of concrete.

They limited the actors;

stuck us filming on location

so we cannot meet.

Scenes are boiled down

to the government's daily prompt.

A result of workers swamped

by a nasty case of writer’s block.

With more and more creatives

put out of commission,

afflicted by this condition,

the director made a decision

on how to save the show.

Until further notice,

put it on hiatus.

.

No announcement yet

on the season’s next return date.

We’ve just been told to wait

Alone.

At home.

Do our part.

Stay out of the way

while they sort

the mandatory delays.

Entertain ourselves

in the unavoidable boredom.

.

What I wouldn’t give

for the old school monotony,

by way of self-autonomy.

There’s beauty in the details

of the tiniest bit of freedom.

But I can give it up.

Stock up.

Stay locked in isolation.

Wander hallways of recycled backdrops.

Live the tedium

of improv comedy.

A temporary gig.

A momentary remedy.

Good practice

as I’m watching in the wings.

waiting by the stage,

keep an eye on things

until further notice.