The Covid 19 pandemic is isolating Alaskan writers. We can no longer attend workshops or public readings. The coffee bars where we met with other writers are closed. To bridge these physical gaps, 49 Writers is providing this on-line forum for Alaskans writing the distance. Today, Mandy Ramsey masks up to safely share a poem.
I am a hugger,
well I used to be
now that a global pandemic has changed life
I can no longer participate in this simple, sacred greeting
that I once offered joyfully and without a thought.
Yet now
I’m slowly emerging after
two months sheltering in the refuge of my home,
I must curb my innate instinct to open my arms wide
like from wings of my heart
to share the joy and love I feel as I connect.
But now my gloved hands curl into balled fists as I remind myself
not to reach out and touch,
for now it’s a smile beneath my flower mask,
as my eyes sparkle and shine hello from my heart sunglasses.
The hugger struggling to adapt and navigate this new touchless world.
Mandy Ramsey lives and writes in Haines.