The Covid 19 pandemic is isolating Alaskan writers. We can no longer attend workshopsor 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. Thomas Pease provides today’s poem and photograph.
My Quarantine Diary
(In Haiku)
Morning
Syrup coats keyboard
Coffee blots report, kitchen
table work commute.
Work from home. Facetime.
Zoom. More Coffee. Grade schoolwork.
Hello there, neighbor.
Mid-day
Birthday song tops charts,
hummed while hand washing, sung to
grandpa on FaceTime.
“It’s not Halloween!”
Toddler’s mask tantrum childish,
or Presidential?
Cocktail Hour
Ker-thud! Once a porch-
pirate thief, now Instacart
dropping off my beer.
Netflix, Zoom parties,
henna hair dye stains the sink.
Home rediscovered.
Family Check-in
Nephew gets more shifts
at grocery store, dollar
raise, but masks withheld.
Mom rips off her mask,
memory vanished before
pandemic arrived.
Day’s End
Stocks crash, virus soars.
Drink one more quarantini
for humanity.
Spooned against arm-draped
spouse, I’m certain only of
life’s uncertainty.
Night Haunts
COVID retreats to
her lair, but unlike bears, she
will not hibernate.
Unprecedented
times. History guffaws, she’s
seen it all before.
Thomas Pease lives and writes in Anchorage.