You were four with a Daddy
when you laid out dancing colors
of pink, blue, green and purple
When you were four and a day
the colors went orange viral
of corona, corona everywhere
You sat half-hidden in shadow
your diamond father stolen from you
with black words like ICU
Now pink, blue, green and purple
have fled a world of frightening red
your mother widowed in white
And you are four and counting
looking back at days of gray
a rainbow shining over you: we pray
Reena at Xploration Challenge gives us an update on the four-year-old pictured above: “I came across a heart-wrenching picture of a drawing by a 4-year old, whose father [was] battling lung failure due to Covid in hospital. When asked what was it she had drawn, she said “Corona, Corona …. Everywhere Corona.” The entire family was infected, but all others have recovered…. She lost her father today. Her mother, whom I see as an exceptionally strong woman, fought till the end, staying afloat with her Buddhist beliefs and chanting “Nam myth renge Kyo.” It kept her going, if nothing else. She is totally deflated now, after the incident. She, who led a fatherless life (her father being a drug-addict), just uttered the words ‘My daughters will meet the same fate.'”
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