The HEIGHT of it All

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(A Grandma narrates a story to her grandchild in the evening under a tree/ compound of the house/arena)

(GRANDMA)
I wondered quietly
Was living the life
Wasn’t I? 
Well we all did

Fun, pleasure, anger
Pain, leisure, hunger

So then it was there
No one knew where 
Or whether it were
Some crazy flare

Boom! It hit us!
Like a volcanic eruption 
It exploded on us!
Philippines,not all of us!

(CHILD)
Who told you that?
Who said that? 

(GRANDMA)
Some thought it was hell
Others just kept mute
Some said a crazy mess
was created due to brute 

What does that mean?(CHILD)
Don’t ask me. I don’t know (GRANDMA)

Their opinions changed nothing
Only worsened 
Spread like Australian wildfire 
Flooded countries 

That’s serious!(CHILD)
Reminds me of Indonesia (GRANDMA)

Hmmm! And many deaths
Sad and unfortunate 
But that’s how deadly 
It was

What was? (CHILD)
Wait a minute, didn’t Kobe Bryant(GRANDMA)

As I was saying, it hurt 
States shutdown 
An uninvited purge
People fled 

Yes Kobe passed
May his soul Rest In Peace(CHILD)

(GRANDMA)
That was before 
the treacherous 
Deceitful killer
Struck! 

What? Not that it hadn’t happened 
But, minor the previous year 

True and now this is it
It’s hurt the entire Globe
Putting States at risk
No! Lives at risk

Everyone was at risk
Flavor was lost? (CHILD)

(GRANDMA)
Unfortunate fortunate souls
Lost, Missing, Mislaid
Anything but happy
Many questions asked

Was it a curse?(CHILD)
Misfortune (GRANDMA)

Though it’s gloomy 
Clairvoyance exist
Temps Difficile 
Mais nous espérions 

Hoped for what? (CHILD)
For a cure. (GRANDMA)

The Corona virus 
I didn’t want to mention it
But it kept running 
Everywhere and to everyone 

And what happened? (CHILD)
It’s bed time (GRANDMA) 
(child leaves stage murmuring)

Fragments! Pieces!
If only I knew 
Strange but that was
The height of it all! 
(Light goes off)


                                by Evelyn The Piper - Evelyn Asare, 2020


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