A 2019 Survey on How People Imagine Themselves Dying
by Isaac Kanyinji—For Chipo
Asked
& I say like everybody else.
To mean in some overcrowded COVID-19 isolation facility,
swallowing pills while the news runs a story about another failed vaccine trial.
The doubts I house in that moment only allow me to think in the present:
I am not aware that the New Year will find us here,
in a Chipata Motel room watching the fireworks.
The year that almost drowned us coughing us onto dry land.
There is an untold side of the story where Jonah,
hours after being puked out of the shark’s belly,
plays beach volleyball with some fishermen.
Overjoyed to care if God has forgiven his disobedience,
he simply plays in the sand, singing his survival.
In the isolated Chipata Motel room, we are unaware of what the New Year holds.
Yet, we celebrate with the strangers.
The joy of survival arrives too ripe to wait.
The Hope Prize is awarded in partnership with Ubwali Literary Magazine. Here is the award citation from the editors: “Isaac is a masterful poet. In 'A 2019 Survey on How People Imagine Themselves Dying,' he delivers a deftly crafted poem, balancing the weight of psychological crisis against the mundanities of daily life without ever veering into self-indulgence. Even within the constraints of such a taut container, he’s successful in capturing the innate human impulse to seek joy amid profound trauma. The language remains accessible throughout, making the poem’s stark contrasts all the more striking—yet, like the malady conveyed in the text, nothing insulates the reader from the devastating blow of that final line. A stunning work from a remarkably promising poet.”