By Bobbi Sinha-Morey
When night erased the day and
a fog smothered every echo of
laughter I saw our neighbor again
after so long, he now delusional
that he’d had pneumonia and not
the deadly virus, a man in his
eighties who doesn’t believe the
Covid could affect anyone because
he hasn’t seen any neighbor in his
mobile home park ailing from the
disease. The last time I saw him
his gait was a little stronger but
he was bent over holding onto his
cane with all the strength he could
muster in his hand, his wife just
a little older than him — every day
a smile on her face, knows if
Mercy Flights hadn’t taken him to
the hospital it would’ve killed him.
We stopped making promises to
go over to see them, to chat like
we used to on occasion. His wife
doesn’t understand it that we don’t
want the contagion; she so nice to
make zucchini bread around the
holidays and we’re too afraid to
touch it with our hands.
Bobbi Sinha-Morey’s poetry has been nominated for Best of the Net in 2015, 2018, and 2020 as well has having been nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2020.
Bobbi Sinha-Morey’s poetry has been nominated for Best of the Net in 2015, 2018, and 2020 as well has having been nominated for the Pushcart Prize
in 2020.
These days I’ve known people who totally ignore the regulations about keeping safe during the pandemic. They wear no mask, don’t care about social distancing, think the virus is nothing more than a case of the flu. To me they’re either stubborn or not that bright. It’s like going to the beach and swimming in the ocean knowing very well there are sharks in there. You would think the populace would want to live and abide by the rules. I have friends in Michigan who really go the mile just to play safe. Part of their daily route is working
on a vegetable garden. They go to no restaurant whatsoever, not even for take-out. They do all their grocery shopping only once a month and do all of it online, picking everything up at the door of the store. They cook every single night. At times me and my husband send them sanitizers and they help us in return. I wish everyone were like them.