by Marcy Branski, 04/18/2020, Traverse City, MI

Adult Category

It’s easier
to dig out ingredients
for Cape Breton bread
pretend I have to stay home
while it rises twice

It’s easier to imagine
I have a deadline
for knitting projects
that glue me to my chair
beneath the bright lamp

It’s easier to hope
my downstate family
is staying home
not reporting
for their essential jobs

than to comprehend
pandemic reality

It’s folly perhaps to think
I can keep my already ill
husband safe
to believe hand sanitizing

and masks
are foolproof
that the virus will
get caught or killed by these
small defenders

But when I go to bed
read as I always do
turn off the light
and slide beneath the quilt

I can almost see life
as it has always been

normal
sometimes boring
but safe
abundant with human contact
hugs and handshakes