Michal was born
in the year
of the pandemic.
He is still a baby.
He is now
learning to walk.
Over the years,
he will learn
many things.
He will learn
the alphabet
and colours
and how to love his mother.
As he grows up
he will learn
other things–
like algebra,
the Earth is round and
the tooth fairy doesn’t exist.
He will learn
anger and pain.
He will know
that he can hate someone
and love them again.
And that a person
can be
a woman
or a man.
Or both.
Or neither.
He will hear stories
of a time
he doesn’t remember
but one he falls under.
Then
he will learn of privilege.
Of luck by birth.
What it means
to have food on your plate
and a blanket on your bed
when not everybody
is so fortunate.
When babies his age
were falling ill,
he didn’t know hunger or cold.
With these stories,
realisation
will dawn on him.
He will hear
of children terrified
to stay at home
and not go to school
during lockdown
because home
was the last place
they could call safe.
Of families
bickering and arguing.
Of shattered jars
and broken hearts.
Of tears,
blood
and pus.
When he is old enough
to notice skin colour
and class differences,
he will see people
are treated differently
depending on the body
they are born with.
Michal will understand
that the vilest demons
are not the ones
under his bed,
but the ones around him
and the ones within.
One day
Michal will grow up.
When he does,
he will tell stories
of privilege
and racism
and demons.
They will be happy stories
of how
he decided to be different
and the world
was never
the same
again.
Because
it takes one voice
to start a revolution
but
an entire army
to stop one.
Aysha Naurein enjoys the days when she can write. But those days don’t come often so when they do, she’s celebrating it. She is also a daydreamer.
Featured image credit: Public Co/Pixabay