Reaching Home

They walked hundreds of miles
their stomachs empty,
their minds full of fears
of having lost jobs to a virus
whose scientific import they did
not understand, or even know
or what is social distancing
or washing hands;
But they walked and we analysts
called it reverse migration,
Stay back we admonished
otherwise you will spread it to your home
and hearth, but they didn’t listen.
Why would they?
They would rather die in the comfort of homes.
Only some died on the way, a long long
way before reaching home.

The only good news is that an economic
package has been announced.
After they died or perhaps reached home.
Geography is now history.

Ananya S Guha lives in Shillong in North East India. He has been writing and publishing poetry for the last thirty years, and his poetry has appeared in numerous online publications. He holds a doctoral on the novels of William Golding and currently is a senior academic in India's Indira Gandhi National Open University. Read other articles by Ananya S..