RC deWinter

too early on a budding branch
some feathered sentinel of spring
wakes the world
its raucous summons

an unwelcome reminder
of the nothing that awaits

i rise in a reluctant unfolding of brittle limbs
tottering in the enormity of alone
that keeps me hostage
invisibly caged behind bars of
common sense and fear

and in this aloneness i am not alone

only the spur of absolute necessity
puts bodies out on the sidewalks
and even there the invisible
boxes of distance are in place

there are no more unexamined lives
isolation is a mirror of reflection
magnifying every joy
every sorrow
everything we've lived
loved
lost
under the microscope of memory

when this is over we’ll all be different
in the sameness of being so much more ourselves