Pandemic Equinox

 

Cedar Grove by the Sea, watercolor by Paul Dougherty (@1916)

I stayed away from the ritual meant to

celebrate light, meant to break isolation—

all of our separate isolations

from each other into solitude or

small groupings. A cabin-fever year

for those of us with homes, with walls and towns

and countries. We are the lucky ones, with

sanitation, and someone near enough

to text or call on phones or out windows.

You enter spring or fall, while I sit on

the imaginary line between them,

afraid to join in, only half cured, half

protected—half loving, half caring. Yet

I’m on a journey toward wholeness, and

reach out to you from here, protective miles,

forests, plants, and towns scattered among us.

One favorite cedar entices me

to emulate her wild strength and calm.

My blog poems are rough drafts.

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     © 2021 Susan L. Chast