Love in a Time of Pandemic
(for S. and D.)
Lovers blow kisses
across
the expanse
of deserted streets,
compose love-letters
with sanitized fingers,
press
hands
against the skin
of lighted screens.
To escape
from the tyranny
of the invisible,
they dream
of living flesh,
like shipwrecked sailors
dream
of land.
In echoing rooms
they cry out,
demanding
to know
when
they can once more
frolic
in maskless joy.
In the answering silence,
they attend
to household chores,
perfecting
the exhaustion
that eventually
leads
to sleep.
Ms. Watson studied composition and voice at Juilliard and poetry at New York University and YM-YWHA. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications including The Paris Review, Nimrod, The Massachusetts Review, New York Quarterly, Moving Out (Wayne State University), and the Paterson Literary Review.
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