Sick With Love Poem by Varghese Kuncheria

Joji Varghese Kuncheria
Sick with Love

I'm sick with love for you, my land,
Awake, O west wind and come,
Carry me to God's own country,
Where my heart and soul belong.

O come, east wind, and blow upon,
Bring the smell of spices in the air,
Kerala, a paradise found on earth,
A place of a lifetime for all to visit.

My first journey during this pandemic,
From Dubai to Cochin this October,
Was novel and different so to say,
I felt like an astronaut in a spacesuit.

The atmosphere was healthy though,
With no visible signs of any anxiety,
Discipline was maintained so well,
People coping with the new order.

As school children, we sat patiently,
Even after the plane came to a halt,
Waiting for orders to open the lockers
Overhead, each row to take its baggage.

Alighting row-by-row systematically,
People adjust to the new norms,
More out of fear than of a sense of duty,
Was this virus sent to teach us all?