95. Short-term Investment

I am not here on holiday. This shift
is not a day-trip – selfie and move on.
Here in the ICU I work as long
as home-grown doctors, am exposed the same
but with more risk. I do have darker skin.

When my wife sees me off I see the fear
that’s written on her face. If I get ill?
If I transmit infection to our son?
And if I die, who’ll get the mortgage paid?
Will they be locked up? Shoved on to a plane?

My visa is extended for a year.
So, just enough to see this crisis through
and then we’re back to normal, where I’m shed
like soiled PPE. Disposable.