Eyes

Claustrophobia has a new name: the mask.

As masks become mandatory in our lives and of those around us, we need to adopt a new form of communication. Muffled words and voices mean that our eyes have to take on the additional task of talking. Since eyes are the proverbial windows to our soul, our deepest, darkest feelings and emotions are on constant display and can no longer be supported or protected by words.

I wrote a poem on this new form raw and unguarded communication.

As we cover our faces and our lives,
only thing communicating
are our eyes.

Fear, frustration,
love and lust,
are easy to decipher,
difficult to cover up.

Can’t hide behind words
and their meanings.
We are on our own,
so are our feelings.

Looking up from
our phones
we speak a different language —
A direct one,
not sophisticated.

The new normal
is changing us once again,
to be more genuine,
not to be fake.

©Pavitra Baxi 2020

This post is a part of #Write52. A commitment to write every week something worth sharing. Find out more: https://www.write52.com/