1.
Eyes locked on a screen,
and furtively fingers tap.
2.
More laughter digs through
a chest
after seeing a Covid joke.
3.
A pandemic draws out fear
a brittle heart should nurse.
4.
Mask up is the new normal.
5.
Online learning!
The kind MBchB can’t cope
with.
How can you learn how to
suture online
without touching the real thing?
6.
Smiles at the camera
while wrapped by the warmth
of your room,
is the new way of graduating.
7.
Alas! The Covid way lurks through
every alleyway.
Chabota Sibuku is a poet from Lusaka, Zambia. He is the winner of the 2020 Scripted Silence Poetry contest