COVID Leper…2021

Nelissa Mendy

Text message: ‘Your coronavirus test result is positive … Blah, blah, blah.
Self-isolation (quarantine) ….Blah, blah, blah…
Track and Tracing… Blah, blah, blah…’

The rest is a blur, shock takes over as fear grips the heart.
Oh my gosh, how can this be? Where, oh where did it start?
The feelings that follow cannot be successfully described.
I just went into panic mode, and prayed that I wouldn’t die.

I told some members of my family, one or two friends of mine as well.
The one thing I was unprepared for was the level of rejection I felt.
I wasn’t expecting sympathy, though I didn’t know what to expect,
But watching my granddaughter’s reaction was the worst feeling yet.

She looked at me in horror and fear, I sensed she couldn’t have me anywhere near,
Even over the video call, I watched her almost shrink back against the wall.
She looked absolutely petrified, it was as though she truly believed I would die.

It’s a different approach when they find out you have it…
Some people no longer want to know how you are,
They just want you to keep a distance and stay very far.
They always have that second thought in their heads,

Not telling you, they are glad you’re not dead!
With fear inside filling their minds, 
They don’t realise, they are being unkind.

A Covid Leper you have become,
Who wants you around after? Hardly anyone.
Even after the contagious stage,
They want you retested to prove it’s gone away.

… So, a social Covid Leper I became,
But I walk with my head held high,
I know many will never see me the same,
But I am just so glad to be alive.

I am not Nanny Virus, nor Nanny Corona.
I’m still just Nanny and I won’t be a loner. 
We now agree, that we can meet up and see,
Only if I wear TWO masks and gloves, then it shall be.
I wonder if I wear a plastic covering, 
Then maybe we could do some real life hugging.

Seriously though, what will happen to the future of our young?
How much of this damage can be undone?
What kind of world will they have to live and grow up in?
Seeing humans as potential viruses, accessible mainly on the screen?

What of building relationships? How shall they ever get close to one another?
To experience romance, and to become a father or mother?

Will money also be replaced by the chip and the pin?
So many questions build up from within.
This new system has changed so much of the way we now live,
I long for the company and the physical hugs we could give.

COVID 19 CORONAVIRUS…2020 and 2021 
Global Vaccination wants you over and done, 
To let us live in a world where we can be free,
To live and mix more socially…

I hope so…