Portrait of a Virus as Heatwave by Rahma O. Jimoh

you came & do not want to leave
but a crown does not stay out for long
you have since overstayed your welcome
your claws and silence are hell like
the earth melts from your heat
we have stayed indoors for aeons,
waking and sleeping in silence,
we have become men of the night
our mouths are yawning from this calamity
please burn out like a candle
we know your smoke may hover still
but die out these flames, please
you masked in the portrait of a virus
we are in sweat and tired
of skyrocketing numbers & figures
of humans trapped in your web
of living in face masks & confines.
we long to walk out free of masks,
dash out kisses and warm hugs
we long for the world of yesterday.

 

 

Rahma O. Jimoh is a poet and essayist, and an ardent lover of nature and tourism. She has been published in Sub Saharan, SpringNg, The Quills, The Mamba and elsewhere. She hopes her works leave footprints on the sand of time.

Connect with her on her website, Twitter, and Instagram.