“For all of the people like me that are hoping and planning for a normal Christmas, I think that’s where we’ll be, if we just keep playing our part.” - Sajid Javid, 25 October 2021

All we want is a normal Christmas,
not like it was last year.
One where we won’t have to choose 
between the people we love to see.
Won’t have to save a place at the table
for a logged-in laptop screen,
and maybe, after dinner,
we can all go to the pub,
just like a normal Christmas.
Where we won’t have to choose 
between heat and food, or
queue up in December frost
for handouts of sprouts and potatoes.
Won’t have to flee four thousand miles
from a home we can never go back to.
Won’t have to cling to a rail on a boat,
hoping we don’t get turned back,
or fall into the freezing sea.
Just a normal Christmas
and a normal New Year.