A New Day Beckons
Poetry
The sun smiled down upon us,
magnificent in its radiance,
the calmness of the winds
made the air feel serene.
Tranquillity was all around,
it was like the angels roamed the streets
as invincible guardians, that promised safety.
The long masquerade was at a pause
and faces were revealed,
smiles could be seen,
playful laughs and cheerful glees.
Although I must confess
these happy scenes
made me stress,
and I still wore my mask.
I was met with frowns
and distasteful smirks,
even a hissing sound
my ears had caught.
It was a day filled with promise,
a poem with cheerful beginnings,
I now fear to go outside.
This is not political, I just fear being without a mask in public. I have battled ailment all my life, fragile from birth, I am sick as I type this. I have not been fully healthy since 2019, doctor says I have a condition that is long-term. It is not terminal so I do not fear but very discomforting nonetheless.
I was very ill early 2020, the type of sickness that resulted in many tests and examinations. Troubling findings were discovered, I remember sitting across the doctor's desk. Hearing sentences about additional evaluations, but possible causes could be cancer, HIV…my mind sparsely registering the conversation and at a point completely drifting. Swallowed by my thoughts, it was at this moment I first came to understand what mortality was.
It is not that I believed I would not die, I always pictured death as a thing of the future, something that occurs when one is old. Whereas death could be anywhere, you could be on your work station on an ordinary weekday. A sudden sharp pain in your stomach could grip you and before you can register what is happening you would be carried off by a stretcher and rushed to the nearest hospital. Indeed what had happened to me.
When the final results came, it was not cancer, HIV, nor any fatal disease. Regardless, I felt I was spared, for in that moment sitting across the doctor, I thought about how young I was and the little I had done. Life became more precious, and the possibility of death made me more cautious. Perhaps that is why I feel uncomfortable being maskless, I am not against eased restrictions but I am keeping my mask on. Thank you for reading.
