Wealthy glide by in slick electric cars,
Feed fake dreams about holidays to Mars.
I wonder how much lithium there is?
Will gig economy slaves earn enough,
To purchase these fantasy carriages?
Days when families drove to Lake Como,
Or to cheap French campsites near Biarritz,
Seem impossible now ports are shut down.
To take the ferryboat to Tremezzo,
Sip Apparol Spritz in Alpine sunshine,
Beguiled by clouds tumbling from peaks to lake,
Such memories so fin de seicle.
As quiz show prizes rise ever higher,
Europe is become a funeral pyre.

Harry Rogers in the Yellow Room, 23rdMarch 2021.