A spot of bleach
blossoming on a
new shirt

an old dog’s
eyes that swell
and shut

the time before
“social” met  “distancing”

Told to stay
home we could
not sleep

Two women
fighting in the
cleaning products
aisle

laughter dropped
by 9% with kindness
trailing as the
market for
contentment
opened down
sharply
overseas

A grievous deficit
of touch

If he’s dying
but not from
coronavirus
does it even
count?

I was
going to . . .
Oh. 

Masking tape
with grungy,
peeling edges
announcing safe Xs
across the
floor

Told to stay
home their
dreams died
a little 

or more
than a
little

32 different plans,
including for
May 12

Some will
not eat

A thousand
in-person social
rituals
per
day

Time for perfect
poems

scratch that:
Time for perfect
anything

The empty
echo of
hymns
unsung

I couldn’t
visit you

Told to stay
home, they faced
greater dangers
there than
any virus 

it is only
death
after all

Kicking a drunk
man out of
church
because
he can’t
stand
back

Speaking of –
told to stay
home, they
had no
home

Oh no
not her

The brainspace
taken up
by
Zoom knowledge

All sense of what
day it is

A significant part
of our
ever-loving
minds

The memory of
the last time
we went
there
before
this
all
happened.