Page 47 - Magazine

Gone are The Days

She gazed out of her window,

At the huge park spread below,
Once full of laughter and shouting
Of the children, who chased each other,

Talked animatedly, and had fun,
But now lying empty,

Slides layered with dust,
And swings creaking softly.

She saw friends,
Who had known each other for years,
Unable to identify now,

Beneath the layers of masks.

She saw little children,
Who used to breathe the fresh air,

Wear a suffocating piece of cloth,
Harsh on their soft faces,

For the sake of safety and protection.

Somewhere, she also knew,

That school will never be the same,
That she will not be able to share lunch with others,
That she will not be able to share their everyday lives as usual,
But just gaze at each other sadly,
In the blue light of our screens.

What has the world come to,
Where once a small cough did not matter,
But is now enough to drive fear in people’s hearts.

The masks, the sanitizers, and social distancing,

It was becoming the ‘new normal’,
She knew all too well,

But deep, deep down somewhere,
She did not want to accept this truth.
What has the world come to?

By Radhika Tandon | XI-A

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