i want to go back

i am thankful for the empty streets
when i walk home
because usually at this time
i would be getting catcalled on my way
home from work, heart in my chest;
trying not to break into a full run
as every figure on the street becomes a
phantom i must escape—
but whilst i am at work at my
“essential” business,
it’s another story entirely;
see the same faces on the daily
people are complaining and whining about
the quarantine as some insist
“coronavirus is a joke”
as if this virus is something you want
to play around with—
all those who have died already,
but these people think it is their right to be
out and about;
they don’t think the threat is real
and they come into my store endangering me and those i love
i harbor so much anger and resentment for these people—
but also corporate who could close down the store
yet refuses to shut down the store and leave the gas pumps on,
who afford us no protections at work aside from gloves
and computer training which falsely compares covid-19
to the flu;
i want to go back to the days before this mess
because when i am at work all i feel is helpless but when i am home
i feel safe and secure and as if there is still goodness and good people in
this world.

Linda M. Crate