Dreams and aspirations put on hold, careers and talents paused
Pupils separated from the classrooms, students separated from the lecture halls
People locked up in houses, and the streets set free from the noise pollution
Hospitals full of patients and running out of beds
Health workers with more work and pressure on their shoulders
Doctors having less time to spend with their families
Police officers and armies widened across the streets
With every movement of a person monitored
Poverty-stricken homes enduring more nights with empty stomachs
Informal traders kept away from the streets and faced with hunger
Many families losing their loved ones
The South African economy slowly losing capital
Breadwinners faced with retrenchments
All because of the deadly pandemic COVID-19