DESPITE CDC GUIDELINES
This is not
the “new normal.”
None of this is
remotely normal.
How can you
strip humans
of all that is
innately
human
for the sake
of humanity
and expect
us
to be
normal?
WHAT IS LIKE TO SOCIALLY DISTANCE
I’m okay with being alone.
(I) used to think I was an introvert
Who just happened to be outgoing
But then it happened:
Spring break came
And stayed
And stretched its limbs
Til the spring in my step
Was broken.
This is not what I meant
When I said
I needed a vacation.
Sure, I wasn’t technically alone.
I had a dog. Friends and family
On the other side of the screen.
But that’s just it: a screen
With blue light
Depriving my sleep,
Continuing my scrolling,
Confusing one day
From the next.
Turns out we were never
Meant to be comforted
By technology.
THE WALK
Mask on mask
On mouth
My breath
Clings
To the fabric.
It ricochets
From lips
To nostrils
‘Til it fogs
My vision.
It’s not complicated,
A five-minute walk at best,
Yet my feet tend to fade
Between the building &
Its occupants.
Why do you do this?
A small crowd is building now.
My throat thickens as I
Zigzag across the sprawl.
I breathe into a square
& hope it stops the double-time
Of my heaving heart.
A guy bumps into me
Like it’s nothing,
Like I’m
Nothing,
Like it’s
No thing,
And my vision fogs.
Lips closed,
Nostrils flared,
It ricochets my
Breath from
Mask to mask.
It clings to the fabric.
