In the Time of Virus

Series of poems exchanged between poets via e-mail

# 7

FILMING THE NEW FASHION

one hundred dandelions

untouched

woven on their own

air 

sand 

man

doesn't matter

never did

sewing itself to soil

with shedding hair

knowing that won't last

crosses natural fingers

casino mind

yesterday

after delivering bread

we saw a hawk

snake coiled in talons 

blast from plowed field

into life while fighting

other birds in flight

just wanting a bite

the new fashion is 

go your own way

and if you can't

look to the sky

everything returns

& beware 

sharp 

shadows

- michael cartright

In the Time of Virus

Series of poems exchanged between poets via e-mail

# 6

Penis Envy Is No Linger a Thing In Kansas City I am self-quarantined, 

Addled by coffee and Copenhagen,

Watching from a window the cat,

Two sparrows, a poem like a hat. 

Peter Matthiessen sits on my nightstand. 

His snow leopard could care less

About Kansas, about the next breath

I take. We are all time’s vitamins,

The moon’s supplement. This morning 

I ate bacon and scrambled eggs. 

I jump started my motorcycle 

As if tomorrow was a given.

- Al Ortolani

In the Time of Virus

Series of poems exchanged between poets via e-mail

#5

Empty Nest with Pandemic. The hound howls and our one outdoor light turns the orange lid of the bird feeder neon. In the backyard, remembering the times you met me in Bangkok, in Santiago, places I never would have gone had you not been waiting. We, not confined, not longing for adventure but keeping ears wide open for unusual cries, chirps and singing in our neighborhood as we review the adventure of 42 years with joined hearts, leaping in and out of fire. ©Debbi Brody 2020