A Prose Poem:
I don’t want to get up, to get out of this bed. I want to keep hugging my pillow, being hugged by my mattress, my duvet. I want to stay here forever until the COVID goes away. And I hug and think of all my brothers and sisters and cousins and aunts. I hug and I think of my nieces and nephew and all the good friends that I miss. I hug and I think about my hairdresser and my massage therapist and my aesthetician and old friends from work. I dig deeper and I hug for my friends still in my home town and my friends from university and I don’t want to let go. I want to stay warm and quiet and safe here hugging them all. Being hugged back as long as I want to. Hugging them back as long as I need to, as long as I can.
A year ago I could never have imagined how life is right now: many people who were calm this time last year are struggling with serious anxiety and depression now.
I am feeling a lot better now that the days are getting longer. I am getting more exercise because we have snow to play on. My creative ideas seem to be a lot like the sap running in the trees: nothing in the darkest weeks but more now with sunshine and warmth.
I talk to people on my daily walk and I try to chat on the phone, email, and video with friends and family through the week. I am not lonely.
But I miss hugging people. I miss being casually close to people– laughing and touching their arm or hand. I feel starved.
So I wrote a poem about all the hugs I miss right now. Maybe you also feel it.
Thank you, Patty
Next up: I hope some dental humour
