Haiku is a traditional Japanese poem which consists of three short lines that do not rhyme. Dr Shahnaz has penned down a collection of Haiku poems that relates intimately with all that goes on inside the mind of a COVID-19 patient. The mind of a patient infected with novel Coronavirus is clouded with the thought of death, the fear of losing dearest ones, yet the very nature of this disease precludes the patient from sharing these emotions. Since the certainty of death occupies the imagination of the patient, he or she wishes to share few precious thoughts, convey few emotions and pass on the legacies to the survivors.
Read on these Haiku poems and you will feel the depth of emotions inside a COVID-19 patient.
Will you tell them
That I was brave
That I did not cry
That I died well
Please
Place these flowers
In my hand
I will greet God
They told me I was ill
Very ill
Does it mean
I have to die
I could choose to live, also
Allow me
I forgot to take you in my arms one last time
You see
We had so much in mind
And I thought I will be back
Soon
Tell them I loved them all
I don’t have time with me anymore
To waste
One last breath
Maybe
I hear you in my mind
I see you so clear
If you were here
I would have lived
My swan song
And you are not even there to hear it
The walls will echo
Do you remember
You have to
Now that you will be alone
How I loved you, once
If you were here
You could then feel
How my heart is pounding
And they say
Just Breathe
I have no thoughts
I have no words
Silent as the night sky
Tomorrow they will take me away
When I am no more
Sit by my grave some time
Carry jasmine flowers
What else would I need