Hello 1919

Room Magazine, Canada, 2021

 

Hello 1919, this is 2020.

It’s summer and I sleep

in the nude. No one wears

a mask in my dreams,

not even the dead who

lounge in windowless

rooms socializing. 

Every night I wake

to feed the cats.

When I return 

the dream continues 

uninterrupted.

I’m not afraid 

to touch anything.

I cut my own hair

and toenails. Now

they’re designing 

new clocks for us,

changing the increments

daily according to the rate

of infection. Last year 

I made a checklist

of places I’d most

like to visit—Winnipeg 

and Cotopaxi, my

ancestors’ path, 

and the Methuselah

tree in the Inyo forest. 

This year I wish only 

for a happy return. 

Hope you are

staying safe.