For Rosa

 

For Rosa

Rosa,her smile tells stories

straight to the heart.

She speaks in two languages;

signing illustrating her emotions,

spoken words the context 

for us who are awed by her.

That stride off to nursery

with no hesitation.

She knows none of the 

fear her parents hold.

But for noticing that

they hold her a little too tight.

Omicron-a benign name

Like a young sister of a unicorn maybe?

Magical almost- except-except

The truth is that it’s another viral variant

Spreading its tentacles across

our city, the country, the world a renewed threat

to our lives and our well-being.

For Rosa much of her life so far

has danced between the full colour version

then back to the greyed out 

Lockdown version.

Play boxed away into homes

Fearful of a virus that doesn’t 

only change lives-it threatens to take life.

There’s the fear, not captured in Rosas short memory

but for her Mum and Dad its very real

sitting by her bed.

An orchestra of sounds and light

the hospital machines symphonies

tell of laboured breath

and blue lights.

It’s just an extra chromosome after all?

But every time the virus rises up

So does the fear.

It’s only a mild illness -for you maybe!

Why bother with masks or isolating?

It’s for that smile.

It’s for life in all its colours.

It’s for Rosa.