‘Fallen’ Poem by 11 year old Projjol Rudra from UK

When we see the flower buds are about to bloom
Their bright colours will light up the garden, we assume.
When we look at the sky and see the rainbow after a storm
The sun is going to come and make us feel warm, we presume.

When Corona broke out in our midst
It’s only another virus, we thought and dismissed
What does it matter?
Nothing stays forever.

But then it spread all across the world
Like lava spouting from the volcanic mouth,
Troubled and worried, into our homes we curled
Hope began to fall, with the magma spreading north and south
Hundreds of companies we know and love, begin to shutdown.

Jobs are gone
Families are broken.
As if the eruptions and lava are destroying the huts and villages in the town
Ashes plume upwards and slowly disperse
As the darkness makes its descent on to the volcanic crater.

The air is rife with the sound and smell of death and dying…
Men are trapped in their houses, who knows for how long,
Production has stopped, schools are shut.
Economy is plunging down.

Mankind stumbles on to the truth – fear reigns.
Then, be it the Pompeii of the past or the world as we knew it in March, has truly… fallen.

We are grateful to Little Writers Studio for sharing both the poem as well as the beautiful painting by Sapna, a talented Madhubani artist from Darbhanga.