Death Is Not A Statistic Poem by Kenneth Maswabi

In every news avenue
We are told of the numbers of the dead due to Covid-19 disease
We are not given a list of names
Whether they were fathers, mothers or grandparents
We are left to guess their age, gender or occupation
We are not told whether they were breadwinners
Or how many dependents they left behind
We are not given their social media profiles
Or their favourite sports, colours or clothes
We are left to guess if they were truly loved
We are bandaged with numbers after numbers
Not to heal our psyche
But to undress our most hidden fears
To display our vulnerabilities
And expose our weaknesses
We are given gigantic numbers
That can only tell half the story
It's the story of humanity in distress
A story of immense suffering
A story of sorrow
It's a story of pandemics
Diseases that consume the human psyche
Unfolding other causes of human suffering
Depression, gender based violence, suicide, poverty…etc
Death is not a statistic
It's a tragedy

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