Every day we bang on our pots and pans
Woot like despondent owls
Clap loudly into the air
Let out full throated screams
Ostensibly of appreciation and respect
Probably out of pure terror.
When I imagined myself
thanking a doctor,
this is not what I saw.
However, here we are
sending our loved ones to hospitals
Some to be treated for sickness
and others to valiantly save them.
To send our beloved to battle
not knowing if we will see them again.
Suit up to fight a microbe
with science and spirit as tools.
When I imagined war
this is not what I saw.
By Aparna Muralidharan