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.