Blue curtains closed
to coronavirus.
Two weeks alone,
they said was all
it would take.
Not a complete shutdown.
But I feel it coming
from the inside and out—
my known worlds crumbling
into the unknown.
Here
Technology my only lifeline,
my one connection
through the chaos of
empty shelves and
closed doors. An
increase in gun sales
and joggers on the
barren streets.
Here
I walk to the art park
and see a scene from
an apocalypse movie:
a lifeguard stand
overlooking a dirt field,
the shadow of love
on the ground, a tiny shack
graffitied with a minimalist
monster—one foot, no torso,
one oversized eye, absent arms.
A humanoid snake-bear
without teeth
and still,
I am swallowed.
Kasey Roper 