For some, the times are not so tough.
Despair and isolation, they say,
has never brought us closer.
An unprecedented new chapter
in over-analyzing
the sound of every exhalation
artfully locates
the words delinquent and
centenarian on the exact same page.
The very air,
which once was ubiquitous,
empty, unscientific
is now peculiar,
agentic, and potentially
teeming with invisible royalty.
Formerly adversarial neighbors
now seem to coordinate
with clairvoyance
their modern dances
of creative avoidance
in the aisles and gangways
with grace and aplomb.
In fact, it has become the definition
of conscientious
to wonder
how little we can get away with
offering one another—
instead of a shake, perhaps
just a hand,
indeterminately raised,
in a gesture that's
half-wave—and half-
stay away.
