POEM: And they come blinking….

And they come blinking….

Out into the light

Skin pale, and so white.

Nails torn apart,

Hair ragged and sparse,

As their hearts

And bones born into deadly,

Idleness lie, eyes soulless and haunted

By those dear departed

Depleted, deleted,

Extinguished of life,

Light, colour and spice.

And they come blinking,

In wonder

At a world so enthralled

In thrall to a virus

That maims as it mauls,

Us, unseen and unheard,

Unknown until now,

When no-one knows no-one, who knows of it not,

The virus that tangles and ties us and binds in a knot,

The young and the old, the sick and the well,

The rich and the poor all succumb to this hell.

And they come blinking,

The light is so bright,

The sun burns their skin,

The black, brown, and white,

The words come so slowly, halting, and shy,

It’s time to connect, now they know why,

For so long in stillness

In darkness and dread,

It’s time to awaken,

The living, not dead.

by Karen Kimberley, Taplow, UK.

(Composed on 16th February 2021 in anticipation of the release of lockdown from the pandemic)

#WorldPoetryDay2021