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Usernamerachealchie
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I am a 23 year old writer, poet, singer, and rapper from Mutare Zimbabwe. I have self published three books, Sweet Deceit, The Indians Child, and Book of Poetry under the name Doreen R. Chitondwe. My short story ‘’Covid As We know It’’ was published in The Blue Marble Review and poetry on PoetrySoup.com. Five of my unpublished poems are set to be published in an upcoming anthology called Poetry Is Life’. I am the receiver of the 2019 Certificate Petal Star Award from Inked With Magic and had my poem ''Thinking Outside the box'' published in Eureuka Street and 2nd Runner up of the Kuchanaya Poetry Contest.
Covid As We Know It
Jan 11, 2021 3 years agoCovid brought about devastating consequences. Forced us to look at the bright side and appreciate things we often take for granted like family time. Often we leave it up to chance or reschedule because we don't get paid at the end of the day for something that is so priceless. Unlike the procrastination of homework and projects, life is too short to reschedule or have a deadline extension. As a sister, eldest of five children I have realized how much time we waste as a family or siblings doing our own thing only coming together when food is being served. The lock down taught me that it is important to have intimate family moments building stronger relationships. The lock down made me renew or rekindle the relationships I have with each family member. With schools out, I had to take the role of a teacher with two of my eldest siblings. They are at the same level at school. Working together to achieve one goal until schools open and even after has reinforced what we all know inside our hearts. We need each other emotionally, mentally, and physically. Through studying together I have realized that everyone is comfortable voicing out their weaknesses so that we turn them into strengths. There is something about being vulnerable inside a family set up that's comforting, knowing that family has your back and asking stupid questions is a sign of intelligence. I get to know them better through the jokes and laughter we share, and the feeling we have for one another to succeed is awesome. While I continue to look at the bright side I'm reminded of a Shona proverb,''Kushata kwezvimwe ndokunaka kwezvimwe'' meaning ‘'the bad outcome of one thing is the good outcome of another.” Since the beginning of lock down we have had uninterrupted power. Before long you would wake up to see it gone and we would be using firewood to cook or heat up bathwater. It's almost as if the government is bribing us to stay inside. Laugh out loud. Walking into town is like walking onto the set of ‘' I am Legend.” You keep thinking zombies are going to pop out of somewhere with streets deserted. Other than that I noticed the streets are cleaner, no litter. The air is even cleaner. Makes ask. Do humans really destroy everything they touch so much that we need a pandemic to reduce all the gases we release into the air, that in turn kill us? We are better than that. Looking at the bright side I realize that somewhere along the line, it goes dim. The virus robbed us of the chance to say goodbye to our loved ones properly, and undid age old tradition which had become a doctrine in some cultures. Sign that we can adapt through anything if push comes to shove and we do not live and survive on luck.
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