“Give Us This Day”
By Raselebeli “Magic” Khotseng
Deep, deep in the yoke of Wuhan
it emerged like house on fire
The graves opened doors to
swallow human bones
as people’s lives perished like a dust
In this land of sorrow
Coronavirus demolished God’s creation
O’ bitter tears of acrimony
leaking from Chinese eyes
sobbing and mourning for victims
of Covid 19 pandemic
That conquered human spirit
even after intensive quarantine of its screening
So give us this day and simmer down fear
in China-an epicentre of Coronavirus
For God shall sanitize their deprived souls
when the wind of Covid 19 drops
As a cap that fits anyone breathing universal oxygen
A deadly virus spread across the boundaries
of our continents in droplets
Landing in one’s chest
Apparently through open mouth and nostrils
Since this virus is traceless
like a black cat in a dark room
Fortune-tellers couldn’t predict its movement
from two meters away
So God help us all and give us this day
In this moment of uncertainty
Hark to a dark cloud of Corona hanging in the sky
Its lightning thunder struck between human contact
To deny us freedom of movement and leisure time
O’ my sweat-heart to whom my love is unlimited
Your freedom to massage my ribs is limited
As much as those used to mass funerals
and tepid cocktail parties
Their after-tears vibes in the land of entertainment is over
Indeed, the first commandment of Coronavirus
is to keep social distancing
So be not far from us and give us this day
Like a hissing snake
to diminish the future of mankind
It trembled us in fear
of greeting our next door neighbours
As we chose to perform an elbow-bump greeting
Fearing a Fourth Industrial Revolution monster
which downgrades global economy
and prompts us to remain indoors
when enjoying a cup of rooibos
Though I might soak fingers deep
into a foam to wipe corona away
Nor flying as a bird to the higher mountain
I couldn’t hide for its destruction
Only thy grace will remake the world
where excessive coughing and
fever shall be no more
So give us this day and heal this world
In swathes of USA Italy Spain et al
voices mourn inside the masks
Voices from generation that
divorce their faith to God
are moaning on how donkeys
are free from scorn of Covid 19
Alas, they forget to seek thy
Kingdom and put trust in thee
With broken heart torn apart
by a cruel joke from these lips
That identify Africa, my Africa
as a fertile ground for corona-vaccine testing
Wrap up those sarcastic lips
for all have sinned
Dear Lord, give us this day
and turn sorrow to joy
* Magic Khotseng is one of the great black poets from South Africa.
