Pandemia
- a Poem
- by Vinitta Mathew
The conversations that disappear into frothy coffee mugs
The intimate eye contact across empty supermarket aisles
The fire in my belly for the last packet of pasta in another’s cart
A slight blush from gloved hands brushing past
Smiles take over bras among the least used items this Quarantine
Logic that refuses to get out of her unicorn pyjamas
Lunchtime doom surfing and dinner with a side of virtual cuddles
Affidavits written in multicoloured pens send a thrill down my spine
Diaries running out of pages with post lockdown to-do lists
Some hair colour to mask the strands of reason popping up
Some Dettol to wipe out every trace of isolation madness
So now tell me;
Will you be my Quarantine?
Vinitta Mathew
from Thiruvananthapuram, in Kerala, India, writes for a living, to stay sane and to make sense of the chaos around. Vinitta has a master’s in mass-communication and is currently in the throngs of birthing a book of poems and that perfect self-obit! Her works have been featured in the Wingword Poetry Prize 2019 and on TheDelhiwalla website.
