How I Am Feeling

While Italians Sing Arias From Balconies

*
Snowdrops are poking through unraked clumps
If I am feeling ambitious
I could clear room for them
My husband points out suggestively

How am I feeling?

He gauges his symptoms
By my general state of being
Unsure if he is bugged by the common
Or something more exotic
Like my gateway drink

Which okay sure, it resembles urine
But the flavor was milder than the crude ones
Tried and rejected as a teen
It suited my craving
To be un-Midwestern-like

My husband alters our nighttime routine
Pressing soft lips squarely
To the center of my forehead
Putting social distance between us

**
My kitchen calendar
Is a series of squares
Events crossed out
On the inside

***
My sister quarantines our parents
Still, they slip through the church’s side door
“We sat in the first pew,” they promise
“We left before greeting anyone.”

When he was young, Dad trained his lungs to run
Pushing asthma ‘round the track ‘til it collapsed
“He has three of the risks,” Mom lists matter-of-factly
“Don’t forget old,” Dad chimes in trying to lift me

My sister’s business trips are canceled
My niece’s freshman year is canceled
My nephew’s golf season is canceled
Church is canceled for the foreseeable Easter

****
“I am praying for everyone as hard as I can”
Stressed to those working around me in a craze
“I blame Friday the 13th,” I say randomly to the file cabinet
Everyone takes the hint

*****
The word comes down from on high to count
All the cases of gowns and the gloves on hand
Also, for future reference should the need arise
Are we willing to research a live virus?

“Our Irish client is shut down,” I announce
Into the cubicle maze
“Due to COVID-19?” a disembodied voice asks
“No. St. Patrick’s Day,” I explain

If required to work remotely
I will carry their laptop outside
Sit on the front steps next to the cairn
Sing “This Little Light of Mine”

Fantasizing the less sick will deliver
Chicken noodle soup to the very
Thus staving off habitat collapse
When everything turns into the positive

******
Friday fell on a thirteenth this year
That evening I spotted the first robin of Spring
Those omens cancel each other out
True?