the door opens and shuts faster than i can wash my hands
hopes pinned to a cork board, viciously stick around for 3 to 5 days
and enter my body; enter my lungs
am i dying or is the world my world just collapsing around me?
“stay away from me” posted to my forehead
but my stomach craves attention, certainty
be gentle with me. nature is healing
but humans are dying from this
as well as other diseases, as well as other afflictions,
as well as other tragedies building on each other
instead of staying 6 feet away
how will i tell my children, robbed of normalcy
that things are even worse
that now it’s airborne, that now being stuck at home
means being stuck in a cold war zone
if they don’t wear masks they might get hit
if i don’t wear a mask i might get sick in front of them
droplets hang in the air a little too long
i wait to tell them a little too long
by then we’ve already got the dry cough
fever burning up our house and it’s walls
and we must stay
stay home stay in an abandoned wreckage until it’s safe again
to go outside