This Long Weekend

We sit quietly, tired from scrambling to
Reach everyone we love, realizing we are,
Still, essentially alone and cannot reach
Deeply enough to do more than bring
Momentary joy by saying hello.
Or am I wrong in that? Do memories
Continue to warm us?

This long weekend, early fall, winter nearing,
When we want to celebrate harvest,
COVID links us in fear. A cold may open us
To longtime illness or death.
Stay alert! Take care of yourself!

Death links us all always and
Children link us, too, with hope and giggles.

Some will not let us in;
Men and women and nonbinary living in
Solitude of their choosing, in
Righteousness, keeping up curtains
That only shield them from us.

And I want to pull that fabric away at least
To peak in and touch and clearly see the
Hidden people behind the fabric,
Behind the masks.

Hello out there;
It’s me in here.

– Connie Madden