Experience and Lost Thoughts : The Wuhan Chapter

Every day I watch you glow up, afloat,          pinging,                     one life, then another, on one end to the other,                                         nature’s whisper: osmosis, a viral specter,                         moving, fast,       on beams, in flashes, with beats,                  in seconds, in days. Every day, I watch you glow up, you,     fiend come to life,                                  in numbers,                                               ...

The elderly lady in red suede pajamas, battles the rungs to the roof, she hangs, blankets on the railing, she hangs the old shoes by their laces, my lady takes care of all there she goes, on the roof, dry the sausages, dry the meats and the duck, She must have heard the news Day 2 The lockdown is here. Ah, here he comes, the honorable street cleaner, he is such a charm, It's been a few weeks, no cars, no taxis, no visitors, but I see him. Day 14, 28, 40 from my balcony I watch, he visits the clean street, no one goes out on walks, not even the dogs, What a blessed time! no plastics to put away, no garbage to sweep, no haze to breath, parks his motor by the pavement, leans on his stead and watches his phone he dares not stir, 15 minutes or 20, It's time for a squat, next to the motor, he is small, smaller than I imagine. yellow vest, broom, mask, phone, see you next time. All this peering, oh look, there she is, its been a month! round face, s...

I saw walls growing like vines in a swamp, walls of iron sheets, walls of bricks, walls of bicycles to keep you out! I saw masks like shrouds, cover faces, then all bodies, mummies roaming the city hunting for food, medicine, relief. I saw despair, or was it humor? a booming online tirade of laughter, everyone in their own bubble, trying not to go outside trying to cope trying to laugh, tik, tok, tik, tok trying for 65 plus days, trying to keep laughing I saw kindness of the humankind and vileness of the wild the free at spirit, rebel fighting for the cause to spread the illness that had built the walls I saw them, on time out! Then they built bigger walls, they said we are safe now but stay inside I see hope, as soon as my fear subsides.