Social Distance

COLIN CUMMINGS

May 10, 2020

When the air moves

A lot we say the wind

Is blowing and when the air

Is still we say the wind

Stopped blowing. But wind

Is always wind. We have words

For sound and words for absence

Of sound: silence. Where did the sound

Go? Did silence trade it places? Doubt

Might be the right word for lack

Of certainty. Faith may be lacking

Doubt, but who can really tell? Wind

Only knows to blow, not to stop. We can’t

Stop what we are. Even now

You have a neighbor, actually

A total stranger, a human with

A life like yours, but completely different

In the same ways. They’re on

Their porch; your eyes lock across

The windless air; your soul

Leaps. There is a word for the lack

Of fear you feel and it is empathy.

Human connection. You see yourself in

Other selves. You aren’t alone

You’re just not together.

COLIN CUMMINGS has lived in Amarillo, TX most of his life and studied Political Science and English at the University of North Texas in Denton. He works in the restaurant and construction industries and has a passion for projects and events that bring people together.