A Virus called Despair

By MAYA GREEN

As the evening of the day peeps
It is time for a foreboding serenade
It’s a melancholic tune — because it weeps
A sad song from the sape’s charade
Along the shores of Tg Batu it creeps
In these unprecedented times — so so sad

Every breathe we take, each step we make
Makes us acutely aware, truly conscious
How fragile life can be — in a make or break
The outdoors is so inviting and bounteous
Alas, we are all cooped up, for safety’s sake
Non communing with nature — and delirious

I’m just trying to keep this candle going
To be able to see the way from where I stay
This light of tiny hope — in all the foreboding deep inside it flickers, tentatively, I’d say
For alone in this lockdown — a forced hiding
Nay, a locked up, by a virus called ‘Despair’

We should recite a prayer, to help us get by:
“O Keeper of the Morrow, our only hope, Give us courage and comfort, to tide us by
Replace our fear and trepidation, with hope;
Unafraid of the morrow — you’re on standby
Your mercy’s everywhere, in each teardrop.”

Dateline:
9:54 AM
11 November 2023
Onboard MH2742
KUL/BTU
(A reflection on the Covid days in Bintulu)