Alone in COVID-19

Harjeet Kaur Mann [1}

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[1] University of California, Davis

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The beeping sounds of the machines surround you

Echoing darkness floods the walls painted blue

The rasping cough won’t leave you alone

The hole in your heart grows being away from home

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You were there for your Ma and Pa, your aunts and cousins

Cramped in the room by dozens and dozens

Holding their hands and wiping their tears

Today there is no one, your beloveds, your dears

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Day and night, you wondered when the time would come

A day of dread and mystery for some

Flying free like the swans and doves

To finally be free from old bonds and love

A reality that you pondered and dreamed of

Wondering if you’ll wear the White or Dark gloves

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The visitors and volunteers who used to flood the halls

Who once provided you chapsticks and stress balls

The shining smiles and glowing eyes

Exist as memories of a past that existed in time

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You see the nurses dismiss their fatigue with smiles

Taking leaping steps across the floor tiles

But their eyebags and voices reveal their pain

The hope that their efforts won’t go in vain

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