Scars of Lockdown by Lamittan Minsah

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Dark clouds

and muffled talks

tore the atmosphere

at the first case.

Then came the rules,

and people in town

both big and small

wore a visor,

as the air, it was said,

was very clatty.

Bitter news daily,

so we shunned hearing more

of the rising death tolls,

the great disposition

of our foe:

rife, brutal to human breath,

consuming mankind

all his way.

There,

on the verge

of hopelessness,

we turned back

the hands of time:

thought of the days

we could kiss and hug.

We gloomed,

with hearts dunked in lime,

mourned for our own,

slain by the bug,

burnt without solemnity.

We cried

seeing shelves go empty,

children withered,

jobs dwindling

and streets going off-limits.

Then I looked out

through my window,

beheld two men

in cops’ kits,

thought,

“Time to save my kids and Betty.”

I wore a mask,

grabbed a pot,

but o my Betty!

Clutched my hand, said:

“Nay, you going nowhere.

‘Tis lifeless out there.”

But for my kids,

her halting I gave no heed,

so out I rushed,

and followed she like a sot.

We

ran after the cops,

for hunger’s sake?

But holy mackerel!

They vitiated my Betty,

slew her with a knife.

So for my sake

and the kids’ healing,

ran I back into the house,

yet into the hands

of a ravenous drake.

And the days

grew desolate,

no sense of hope,

not even crows;

except fear

knocking at our doors

furiously,

our hearts

fighting back the shove

and panic

seeming to our lives rove

as we waited

for the vaccines to come

Then so they came.

-LAMITTAN MINSAH

Lamittan Minsah is a Kenyan writer, mostly specialized in poetry, flash fictions, short stories, opinions and long prose. Some of his published works include “The Long-lasting Tree” (historical fiction novel) and Let’s Talk Bride (a collection of poems), both available on Amazon. Read more about him and his work at Laminsa Indies.

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