Nowhere To Hide

A Pandemic Poem

I slow, so you can pass by but you slow because you want something Human contact, a nodding glance a head nod, some affirmation that we are on the same plane but honestly, I don’t see you All I see is potential disease and will gladly sacrifice six to one thousand feet of space between us if it just gives me some place to hide

I walk my dog because I need to and he doesn't understand the fate the world is in right now He thinks we are hypochondriacs and as much as that sounds crazy, since he is a dog and there is mutiny on this ship, he doesn’t think that differently than you because you want to pet him with your ungloved hands slowly transmitting the particles of every person you’ve been in contact with to the brushed fur on my dog’s back and he only sees this as affection, but to me, it’s an act of aggression

And maybe I am taking it too far, but in this context, I would much rather be safe than sorry, your rude interlude who quickly crosses the street when you try to lock eyes with me in neighborly ambivalence because I don't want to be that person who lets his guard down too early and watches later as doctors place a used ventilator over my mouth all because I had nowhere to hide

© Jonathan Greene 2020

If you liked this, you might like this as well: