Poem by Martin Chivaku

Hunger attraction

“Stay! Keep a distance_”
 
A talk to set people free
For a slave master arrived_
Descended and made self at home
In the East_ thus had to spread
To the West, North and South
Like the wings of a bird
Ready to migrate...
 
“Isolate! Keep in quarantine_”
 
An innocent directive lifting guilty
Repercussions to! summon the less
And even the used-to-be privileged_
Into the shelter of insufficiency.
 
“Listen to live_ to die!”
 
The best option there is_ there was
And there will be...because it feels better
To live and die_ than to die at first glance
Without a face mask and clean gloves.
 
The world wrestles dirt and entirely
Becomes cleaner than a whistle_
 
But when the referee blows the whistle
The bellies carry cleanliness more than the food,
It was just but supposed to carry in the,
 
Pre-virus period -- hence godliness becomes
Easier as the wholeness died of
Hunger and thirst.
 
No more brother’s keepers as the brother
Lies on a deathbed coughing, sneezing,
So feverous and in dire need to provide
Food for his other brother but...
 
The virus took the muscle back to the gym
And watched weakness, panic and fear
Awash the land with destruction.
 
Where did the virus come from?
Why did the virus come at a time of this?
 
The aftermath and the present-math
Is a world full of hunger and what’s_ there for us
When the end just comes to an end?

Martin Chivaku is a poet from Zimbabwe. You can find Martin on Twitter here: Chivaku Martin

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