PAD Day 8: The Argument for Intimacy

Today's prompts from Poetic Asides and NaPoWriMo: (1) Write a "future" poem, and (2) write a poem using a line or phrase from another poet. NaPoWriMo offers links to some Twitter "bots" that regularly and randomly issue lines and phrases from various poets like Plath and Shelley. I chose the Plath one, which had a pinned quote that was so appropriate for the times, and used it as an epigraph.

The Future of the Hug

I was not ready for anything to happen.
- Sylvia Plath

The first thing they said was Don't shake hands.

Soon after that, they banned intimacy.

Stay apart, the length of a person's body.

Wash your hands. Don't leave home.

If you do, wear a mask. Wash your hands.

Don't let anyone in your house. Wash your hands.

Wash your hands.

I watch my first-grader talk to her teacher

from a laptop screen.  At the end, she leans in

and wraps her arms around herself, a virtual hug.

The teacher should be inside those arms.

I can see her tears welling.

None of us were ready for this.

A kiss, a handshake, a hug -

these days any could be deadly.

Those closest to us at home still get them -

the reward outweighs the risk.

But when we come out the other side of this,

how much warmth will we resurrect

in those social gatherings that right now

are called death traps?

Some of us have already adopted "Namaste" -

the pressing of our own palms together.

It feels wonderfully sincere, but

it is not the same as pressing  another's flesh -

hand to hand, lip to cheek, arms

around another whose arms enwrap you.

The hug will not become extinct.

When we come out again, blinking in the light,

we will see those whose absence was an ache,

and we will seek their comfort.

We will dissolve our personal space,

become blankets in each other's arms

and squeeze.