Malaria and the Sick Lad - An Original Poem

_{In a kraal far away,
Beneath a bedsheet made from hides,
A lad buries himself, shivering.
His body burns like a cup of coffee.
Malaria has paid him a visit
And everything is no longer the same:
The lad is unable to eat
Even his favourite meal
Of fufu and Egusi with goat meat
For a cloud of bitterness covers his tongue.
He feels healthy in the morning
And feels sick when the sun shows up
Is the sun Malaria's ally?
The lad is unable to sleep
And when he manages to catch one
He dreams of purple and red
He dreams of blue and yellow
Of different colours
That come in different sizes
All throwing punches at him
In the boxing ring of his thoughts.
The sick lad feels cold
When everywhere is hot
And feels hot
When everywhere is cold.
At the clinic, the white-wearing nurses
After giving the lad a few injections
Blamed mosquitoes for Malaria's excesses.
Poor lad! He will get well again
But will never remember
To use his mosque net.}

Today, malaria is one of the leading causes of death in Africa. In 2017, there were an estimated 219 million cases of malaria in 87 countries while the estimated number of malaria deaths stood at 435 000 in 2017. Source

I am @gandhibaba, the young man who goes about carrying his magical pen, not his gun, in his pockets.

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