Love in the time of Corona – picture us

Unframed

Picture us

Unframed, reframed

See us in all the places that we could not be

Prohibited, inhibited

Shapes connecting dying breath to life through plastic, steel, sweat, despair

Hearts and faces with hidden bruises

Shadows around a grave.

Remember us

In queues, on lines

Recall us in all the ways we could not be

Separated. Resegregated.

Dimly distant in each other’s eyes and our own minds

Footprints washed away before they could be followed.

Trust and truth erased.

Watch us

Sinking. Rising

Deeply hungering to hold and heal

Hunkering with blame and rage

Drunk on defiance and compliance

Passing bucks. Creating decoys.

Excuses to deploy.

Imagine us

Unmasked. Reconfigured

Carrying our lessons lightly into a new day

Lifting each other with dancing eyes

Displaying our dreams with outstretched arms

Till they become entangled together

A tapestry of untouched hands.

January 2021

January 2021