zigzagging in the apocalypse

the days bleed into each other when i am working from home

i haven't lost track of my schedule necessary for my job

but i have lost track of the day thinking it's tuesday when it is wednesday

that sort of thing happens

but i have to go in to the office once or twice a week

& i have an opportunity to see the conditions of my beloved city

most business are closed & the streets are mostly empty of traffic & pedestrians

at least in the morning they are & still there are people out

walking themselves & their dogs or just hanging out in clusters

clusters!  what the fuck!

so i have to zigzag thru the streets doing what i can to avoid them

& they are doing the same

there has been more than one occasion when i get that look

from someone walking their dog

what the fuck does he think he's doing walking out here all by himself

& yet it is hard to avoid people for we are so sociable animals

how could it not be hard when what we did as normal a couple months ago

is now a potential vector for the virus

& people are taking the pandemic seriously grave

many of the restaurants have converted to take out only

all of these eateries have developed protocols to keep customers at least 6 ft apart

one such popular cocina set up barriers between staff & customers

that shouting for the food is necessary

how we have changed so quickly

that i wonder how we might snap back again to what we once knew as normal

like tonight when i shopped at Safeway

was turned over & many shelves were bare of products

that i worry that this is the new normal

scarcity & want from need like needing a roll of TP

& not finding it

the bubble of abundance now permanently burst

or could we snap back into what was normal a few months ago

i have no crystal ball but rather i can act within the circumstances given me

& i am still in search of a couple rolls of TP