What Rough Beast | Covid-19 Edition | 03 28 20 | Rachel Finston

Rachel Finston
A Poem for COVID-19

We stay home from work,
you sniffly, me achy.
We sleep for ten hours.
There is an element of risk in our work
I push books, you push fluids.

I cry watching a comedy,
my family is on the other side of the ocean.
I don’t know
if it’s just my medication
or if I’m really afraid.

Our cat purrs beside me
He, at least, is safe.
You sleep in our bed
I can hear your uneven breath,
your body trying to remember
how much it loves to live.

Rachel Finston lives and works in Washington, DC. She won first prize in the Fredericksburg Coalition of Reason 2017 Religious Freedom Essay Contest. Her favorite pastimes include gardening, reading, and arguing about politics.

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