Unlocking Myself During A ‘locked Down' State Poem by Khairul Ahsan

Days are passing by, in a state of ‘Locked Down'
Imposed by the unseen authority
Of COVID-19.

That's a great opportunity for me
To unlock myself
And look deep within, and also outside.

Got used to the domestic routine,
Of doing the same things day in and day out,
But yet, those are the things that I love to do.

Now I spend my time by listening to songs,
Reading and writing poetry,
Praying in earnest, in my own language,
At specified times.
It is now almost a set pattern,
That's a set daily ritual for me.

For me now, the ‘outside world' means
The stretch of the sky that I can see
Lying on my bed, through the window,
And the green treetops that greet me
When I sometimes stand in the balcony,
Almost as a drill, an old habit.

I love to inhale the morning fresh air
That is oxygenated by the trees nearby.
But standing there, like before,
Sadly, I see no more
The flights of planes coming in and going out,
Flying past my home, on the approach of a runway.

Sadly, they have been grounded,
Like birds brought down by a tempest,
With broken wings,

Many faces peep in my mind when I stand in prayers.
Some were long gone, some in the recent past.
A few of them were victims of Corona.

I can read their lips, they chant
‘Prayers, prayers, prayers'!
My tongue responds readily and prays for them.

The birds that laid eggs on a balcony flower tub,
Hatched for days together with utmost attention
And when the shells broke,
They fed the nestlings a few times a day.
What a pleasure it was to see them!
Now they are all gone, perhaps to their new nests.

The Order of Lock Down has locked us down,
Yet, remaining indoors too,
Some has to change their addresses
From temporary to a permanent Locked Down state.
They move alone in coffins, with unfamiliar faces,
While their families mourn, remaining ‘Locked Down'!


Dhaka
14 May 2020