NaPoWriMo 2020: Postcards from the Pandemic - 4. Week Three

Postcard #18 April 16, 2020

Talking about re-opening, restarting,

Is just as scary as stopping.

Is it too soon?

Will the flattened curve bend upwards again?

Will we be safe?

On the other hand, it also stirs hope this thing has an end.

Postcard #19 April 17, 2020

Symptomatic.

Fever

Headache

Body ache

Chills

Cough.

Enough checked off the list to warrant testing.

Additional symptoms:

Racing heartbeat

Clenched fists

Reminders to breathe.

And hope for negative.

Postcard #20 April 18, 2020

The tent at the entrance to the formerly-vacant building

Wears white, like the personnel covered in paper gowns,

Every inch hidden,

Protected as much as it can be.

Facemasks, goggles, hairnets.

All that’s missing is a gasmask and oxygen tank.

Despite the doomsday look and feel,

The nurses are pleasant and joking.

True heroes on the battlefront.

Postcard #21 April 19, 2020

I call my house “The Gingerbread House”

Because of the dark brown shaker shingles lining it.

And the comfort it brings me as my safe haven.

Now it has additional names.

Sanctuary

Prison

Quarantine

I am a juxtaposition of jailor and prisoner.

It’s not safe to leave.

For me or for the public.

Thankfully I’m surrounded by pages of fantastic worlds,

Noble horses prancing across shelves,

And purring cats.

I have a full pantry and freezer,

Enough sustenance for a couple of weeks.

My laptop is my lifeline to my friends and family.

Chatting for hours makes the time pass a little quicker.

Postcard #22 April 20, 2020

Results pending: April 20, 2020 5:40 pm

Login 9:00 am

10:00 am

1:00 pm

3:00 pm

4:30 pm

In case they’re posted early.

At exactly 5:40 pm, the results are posted and

The phone rings: it’s unemployment and can’t be missed.

Messenger pings

Text message buzzes

Really, people?

I had all day free, except for 5:40 pm.

Unemployment sorted.

Results: not detected

I’ve never been happier to have a negative result.

Postcard #23 April 21, 2020

The weather mimics my mood.

Bright and sunny one minute

Seasonable at 50 degrees.

Perfect for being outdoors.

Then plummets to freezing,

Rain turns to sleet

And snow.

Skies darken

Wind shouts.

Perfect for being inside.

Surrounded by warm purring

And safe.

Postcard #24 April 22, 2020

The cats watch nature programs

Through the window.

An oblivious bunny cleans itself,

Much like its feline observer,

Underneath the snow-tipped forsythia blooms.

Robins frolic in the too-long-for-suburbia grass,

Bobbing for worms.

The black-furred predators chitter and chirp,

Wiggling their butts,

And watch, wide-eyed,

Next to their amused human companion.