Take me back to the lavender days,
those times of relative calm
and red telephone kiosks
littered throughout this land.
Heaven knows it wasn’t perfect
and complaints abounded,
though I’m sure we handled crises
so much better then,
before we got too hung up on the news.
The red booths are still there
and the lavender too,
though the phones are long gone
and the flowers’ rich hue seems lost.

copyright Francis Barker 2020