(Old order changeth yielding place to new)

Old order is ready for departure

masked women, men, children stand apart

on the pavement,

a monster virus changes our life,

so far so near; the new normal.

I can notice a spot of grass riffling

amid the concrete,

an unknown creature is chewing on roots,

critters rustle in the bushes in light rain

I am a super hero of senses in exile.

Feel the screen, feel the love in your eyes

listen only to your phone chirps, late-night whispers,

I am numbed to the outside world.

I cannot touch you, cannot smell your presence

my vision blurs, my mind dies.

Here I am alive in isolation,

breathing in soulless life’

waiting for a new world.

                                                  ~ Gopal Lahiri 

                                                   Kolkata, India