Coping with Covid: poems and all

I’m sure I’m not the first person to say that it took some time to crawl myself out of the abyss that was covid. Parenting and teaching through this pandemic has been depleting. It has only been in the last month or so that I could finally start to see some light and so it should be no surprise that writing, or anything creative aside from cooking or baking, has not been possible.

But now that the light has started to shine through, and the end is a possibility, I offer a simple poem. I hope you enjoy.

The Bird Feeder

Cheeky house finches crowd around the bushes,
Twittering and rustling their feathers,
Each waiting a turn at the Bird feeder 
My father keeps fully-stocked
Outside the window.

My stomach rumbles in the middle of a zoom class.
I rub my eyes, strained from squinting at the screen
And I want nothing more than to escape in my car
To the nearest coffee shop. I long to order a 
Large black coffee and a raspberry scone with the
Bits of sugar on the top, unencumbered by the 
Medical mask that chafes and gives me acne. 

I am in the middle of dreaming
About the heady scent of fresh-ground beans,
About coffee house chatter, 
About actual conversations with friends
When I catch the beedy eyes of
A blush cardinal mocking me through the window. 
She cocks her head in amusement,
Shakes out her wings and alights to the bird bath
Where all her friends have been waiting for her
To splash around, share their seeds, 
And gossip about the lonely lady behind the glass.