My name is Nisreen Yamany. I am from Saudi Arabia and I am a graduate student here at Kent. I am so grateful that during the pandemic I didn’t experience the lockdown that my family experienced back home and instead I could freely roam the green parks and visit the Cuyahoga River. Here is my poem:
Fragile Cargo
Dear vaccine,
we carried ourselves
like precious fragile cargo:
Don’t touch
Don’t come close
We had to erect barriers,
become invisible,
mask our faces,
lose our smiles.
Won’t you save us,
let us bask in each other’s warmth again,
cross the 6-foot distance.
Give us the hugs we missed,
the air we never thought of doubting.
Let us remember the touch of worriless hands.
Give us back the life we never knew we loved
the mindless walking among crowds
the shoulder-to-shoulder sitting.
Dear vaccine,
we’ve learned our lesson.
Your absence was our punishment.
But now it’s time for redemption.
It’s time to live again.. anew
To love again...more deeply
To care again...more sincerely.
