Coronavirus: Don’t Touch
STEVEN T. MOORE
April 17, 2020
The President is on TV again
bright red tie swaying like a flag
on summer days where children
hopscotch and drink lemonade
the color of sun. But the sun
is closed today and everything else
as health officials
standing with Trump
clutching black notebooks
resembling the ones
I carried to school
holding grammar and math
lessons in place.
Mother kisses me
hugs me tight
wishes me a good day.
She sleeps underground now
and I wonder what she would
say about all this and the barking
orders for us to remain
inside our homes
but if you can’t
no touching
no hugging
no handshaking
no kissing
stand six feet apart
wear plastic gloves
a mask and shades
you may die if you don’t.
It’s been a week now and I am
out from my cage for essentials
grabbing bread, eggs, and milk
before they sell out.
Can’t find toilet paper again
metal shelves that should house them
are empty
barren
cold
unwelcoming.
Twisted faces around me
gasp in horror at the sight of
nothingness stretching out for yards.
By accident my covered elbow
brushes against a customer
wearing a Texas Rangers ball cap
black homemade mask
covering face and teeth perhaps brushed with Crest
making no eye contact
rushes away with a confused little boy
wearing a yellow t-shirt
sitting up front in the cart
hesitating to wave or smile at me
clutching a weathered stuffed teddy bear.
At the checkout stand
the cashier quakes with eyes shouting
Don’t touch me at all
because we look like those lepers
we studied in Sunday Bible school.
I go home to an empty house
think about those families
behind locked doors on my street
hugging holding each other
think about those couples
who are able to kiss
who are able to touch.
Think about that married cashier who
has no idea what I am going through
as I sit here and long for an accidental brush
to warm my skin. I turn off the lights
pray for the ghost of my mother
to cradle and sing me to sleep.
STEVEN T. MOORE received his M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the University of Nebraska. He enjoys writing poetry and is the author of The Cry of Black Rage in African American Literature and two children's books. He is Professor of English at Abilene Christian University.
