I remember
for a long, long time
I was locked away
while everyone else played
and danced.
Curled in fetal position
crying fat ugly tears
as my best years blew away like
dandelion spores
in the wind.
It’s not fair
was my mantra.
I too
rationed food
though staying in bed
I got quite heavy.
To the grocery store only,
I did not meet eyes or smile.
Every person might as well have had the plague.
It’s funny
I—it took a while but I
eventually crawled out of my cave to
greet the light.
When I did
I looked around and saw
so much time had passed.
I was Rip Van fucking Winkle indeed
waking up to a whole new me.
And did I mention or not
that all those I loved
dropped dead on me one by one
till there were none
while everybody else bathed
in romance, laughed and
drank wine?
No?
So
I was told the news of mandatory
shelter-in-place
gas-masks and rabid hand-washing
to rid ourselves of
this “global pandemic.”
(Or is it bio warfare
or
are we guinea pigs in
some kind of test run?
Guess “Don’t believe everything you hear or read”
does not apply to instances such as this?)
Everybody wave hello to Rod Serling!
Because we are in the Twilight Zone now.
Or
maybe not.
Conspiracies (and the rebellious teenager in me) aside…
I rather kind of hate to admit
and trust me, the guilt is not lost on me
as I listen to news on the radio of
hoards of people
frantic for lima beans to feed their kids,
that here am I
eating grapes at my kitchen table and
watching the clouds drift above my garden
like a caravan of angels out the window.
I love my quarantine life.
I do what I want.
No one to tell me
be here, do this, do that.
Now!
How I make more money on unemployment
than I ever did breaking my back
at my dead-end job? It’s
not right.
Or maybe it’s alright.
I love that I can
stroll and
redecorate my bedroom.
Finally watch Top Gun,
finally read 1984
and twiddle my thumbs.
No, this does not diminish my need for
purposeful work
nor meaningful connections
with other souls,
why
just today
I connected with God.
His grace rested on the red wing of a blackbird
in a field of swaying high grass
and wildflowers,
so I wrote a poem.