A satire on the current Corona crisis, by Dr Roopali, for Different Truths.

When the Frog
who lived in the well
jumped out of the well
I quietly slipped in
to live in the well.
My well has a nice brick wall
and I can hear the eagles call
I look up to the sky
and I see them fly.
 
You may think to live in a well
is pure hell but I have my shell
and it keeps me well.
Well since then I live in this well,
frequently washing my hands
with soap, water and sanitiser,
following the medical advisor.
Sometimes I hear voices
some strange gurgling noises.
When a bucket comes down I get to the side
unlike that Frog who took a ride
into town like a dancing clown.
  

Happy to meet his friends
he shook their hands and hugged them tight
and didn’t let them out of sight
they closed the doors to keep out the bores
the bar was smokey and oh so hazy
it drove the happy Frog so crazy.
Some wine and cheese and a cigarette later
when the music began to play
Frog began to dance and sway.
And on the dance floor he met a beauty
bright and famous round and a real cutie.
She was very young not old
she wore a spiky crown of gold.
This newly crowned Miss World he was told
was none other than her highness
in all her brightness.
Miss Corona Hunan Devi.
 
Frog didn’t wear a mask
thinking it too big a task
his hands with soap
he did not wash
sanitiser he refused to use
thinking it’s a medical ruse.
He just kept hopping and hugging
laughing and talking
talking and laughing
 
Miss Corona was a breathless beauty
to bow before her it was his duty.
 
She fell in love with him at once
so with him she began to dance
coat of yellow green she clung
a happy peppy song he sung.
She kissed her Prince
he kissed his Princess
and very soon he lost his senses.
In a hospital he was found
no party friends were around
a solitary doctor on his rounds
heard a Frog gasp for breath
for Miss Corona he was crying
to revive him nurses were sighing
they put him later
on a large ventilator.
 
I am a Tortoise in my shell
I am safe and staying well
I have nothing more to tell.
Oh you are asking how
Frog’s story I came to know?
It’s from my WhatsApp viral video
of a popular show.

Visual by Different Truths

Dr. Roopali Sircar Gaur

Dr. Roopali Sircar Gaur is a poet, travel writer, and social justice activist. A former professor of English Literature at Delhi University, and a creative writing professor at IGNOU, she is a widely published academic and creative writer. Her book Twice Colonised: Women in African Literature, is a seminal text on women’s socio-political empowerment. In 2020-21, she co-edited two poetry anthologies – In All the Spaces: Diverse Voices in Global Women’s Poetry, and Earth Fire Water Wind.