I’ve heard
I’ve heard that in Italy
music reverberates through alleyways
from balconies the size of
postage stamps
I’ve heard that Manchester
is a footballing
city united
I’ve heard family rooms
serve as school and theatre,
outstretched arms compete
in window badminton exchanges
I’ve heard nature
is poking its nose through the keyhole;
the air feels different
I’ve heard that
this is humanity healing
I see
I see my grandmother
retreating into her age,
the alcohol content of
sanity products being scrutinized
I see panicked stockpiling
amid the third word war
I see the neighbours whining
over booze restrictions,
the local café will not survive
I see the tax on my waistline,
my chest a burning river of consciousness
I see my new coworker’s
wagging tail heralding a new hour
I see death
on a line graph
When the cloud-wisped figures
of the sky
power up their old energy guzzler
once more,
I will plant children
in the expectant earth
I will water their bones
I will fertilize them with passed souls
They will make kites
from our debt collection orders
Their tiny feet will bound
back across the timeline of climate change
Their curiosity will soap up the frail
Their laughter will filter
through closed borders
And they will colour away the plague.
Sumaiya Vawda is a 20-year-old studying at Rhodes University. She walks the tracks of social and existential questions and often loses her train of thought.