PANDEMIX

Since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Covid-19 a worldwide pandemic, humanity has been compelled to focus on its quantifiable aspects, that is, how many people were being infected each day, how many were confined to intensive care units and how many had died. These deadly statistics created an impression that all human beings are equal and that in charting the numbers, national governments are managing the crisis. However, and as social media conversation and the work of professionals beyond government has revealed, Covid-19 has significant social and psychological impacts. It has revealed social and class divides, the vulnerability of indigenous communities and the deleterious effects of extreme, narcissistic individualism.

This anthology seeks tend to the range of human emotions experienced in the early phase of the pandemic. It uncovers an inner world that rarely featured in official narratives of the day. In the early days, the narratives and feelings of those under lockdown barely made it into headline news. The anthology therefore gives voice to feelings and seeks to render audible those currently silenced. The poems suggest that all communities speak. The marginalized speak against and through oppression. They are often audible but those in power often choose not to hear them. To emphasize this divide, the poet juxtaposes the emotions of the marginalized with strident, self-focused responses to the crisis, revealing a wide spectrum of human emotions and their impacts. A quiet offering of the book is that emotions matter and can provide deep insight into individual and national psyche.