I am awake
It was a long deep sleep
I try to open my eyes to see the world
Hopefully a change.
Curtains up
Window closed
(Inhaling)
(Exhaling)
I barely can breathe
My chest is tight
Heaviness?
Anxiety?
I don’t know!

Through the window
the sky is glorious and cerulean
The sun looks at me beside the rainbow
But it does not smile like before!
Wondering why.
Where are the birds?
Where is their early-morning songs?
They used to fight over partners on that high tree.
They no longer fall in love?
They used to travel deep into that forest to feed their kids.
They no longer make love?

Our crowded street is empty
No stray dogs barking and chasing cats
No cats hunting mice
No mice climbing in trash
No trash in front of houses at most

A ghost town?
A haunted neighbourhood?
What is the matter?

I am shackled in here
In silence
In quietness
No noises like before
but the sound of silence
No little fights between siblings
No calls from my mother for breakfast

No.. no.. no..

I wake up from my sleep!
It was just a nightmare
Fortunately, I am alive with no Corona
The house is not silent
The neighbourhood is not haunted
Nothing is the matter

Mohammed Arafat
07-03-2020