We cremated my uncle the other day

Actually we left the body and walked away

As the cadaver waited in queue.

 

There was a young girl my daughter’s age

Who died gasping for breath, her mother

Waiting soundlessly, was given the body instead.

 

The shoe-shine boy who made a living

Polishing our court shoes has disappeared.

The pandemic took him too.

 

You can hear the wails of the hopeless

The tide has come in and the water is poison

And shapeless things float to shore

 

They say masks are now mandatory

Keep sanitising your hands, get the vaccine

Stay safe and keep your distance

 

How do we distance ourselves from the deaths

The masks that our voices now have to wear

Is this now the normal, the common-place?

 

Is this the future of the human race?