The Masks
- Anuradha
Bhattacharyya (India)
Blue, white and green have always been
Signs of stuffy hospitals
And I’d shudder when ill,
Just to think I’d get
Infections unasked for
From crowds in a major hospital.
I’d much prefer the blue of the sky
And the green of the grass
In my backyard
Where cohabit mosquitoes
Flies, ants and ladybirds
With squirrels, parrots
And the black but lovable crow.
But suddenly there’s news
That all of us are germ carriers.
All of us must wear
Those grim signs of illness,
Symptoms or no.
Masks for us have always been signs
Of robbery, stealth and fear.
Masks symbolize deceit, disguise,
Comedy, masquerade and mime.
Those masks now appear to be
The simplest sign of care
To protect another from oneself;
These also resist a bit of the venom
Of our hands and the air.
Masked men, masked women,
Masked little children
And masked dogs and cats;
Though friends appear strange
And we may also get scars
From masks and a headache from that,
Masks we must wear.