EXPOSURE OF SHELTERING

First published in HOPE THROUGH COMMUNITY

Words and images in response to a global pandemic

The jigsaw puzzle has been completed

and has been on the counter for a week.

The days are longer; rains have receded,

but Covid-19 here’s not reached its peak.

We work on cars, or garden, just to see

the random neighbor, masked, out for a jog

or checking on postal delivery

or, distanced by leash length, walking the dog.

We’re gladdened to wave to one another

and know real human contact still exists,

though none may see the “smile on your brother”

through masks, outside shelters, culture persists.

We’ll return to healthy, wealthy and wise.

It won’t be through division (no surprise).