What Rough Beast | Covid-19 Edition | 04 24 20 | Tanya Azari

Tanya Azari
Falling in Love Under COVID-19

he has a sore throat so he asks if he can move in;
his parents are older and
if i have it, you have it. romantic.
of course i say yes.
of course he gets better.

he still comes over and stays,
makes my bed and washes the dishes
in the morning, as slowly as he possibly can.

there is nothing to do with time but waste it.
there is nothing to do with time but spend it
with each other. but

i am drowning in unemployment and isolation
and we both worry i am reaching for him
like a red buoy;
like a lifesaving device.

sometimes he is sitting right next to me
but his mind is six feet away.

on the day
the governor orders us to stay at home,
we sit at the kitchen table and watch
the storm clouds gathering
above the skyscrapers downtown

like shoppers waiting outside the grocery store;
like trash bins filled with disinfectant wipes.

i fall asleep that night, waking in starts and fits,
pressing my face to his neck and asking myself
can we survive this?

—Submitted March 22, 2020

Tanya Azari‘s work has appeared in Drunk in a Midnight Choir, Words Dance, and Tinderbox Poetry Journal, among other journals. They live in Los Angeles, where they are writing, reading, and FaceTiming their way through the pandemic. Online at azarinotsorry.com.

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