2 Horatio

Then heard a bright voice
From behind: charming, witty.
(Could it be?!?!) Hassaan!
With Becca and Yi!
Those darling people, giggling
So contagiously!
How much I wanted
To embrace them all then when
The terrible thought
Filled me completely:
What if I had the virus
And gave it to them?
(Asymptomatic
Typhoid Marys I’ve heard still
Spread the contagion!)
Of course the thought cuts
Both ways: and I am older.
Even more at risk!
Like the turtles there
I froze. Fell silent. Vanished.
The most loving thing
I could do, I thought.
To stand with them like turtles
Before the heron
Not disturbing their
Loveliness, or anything
Else at Radnor Lake.
The thought pains me still.
Then, looking at my yard now,
All the waking things:
The peach tree, waking
Up with the banana trees,
And the fig’s first leaves….
For now, let’s embrace
In the scents of lavender
And crushed rosemary!
Dreams For Our Future:
The lights turn on in all rooms
Of a great white house.
Crumbling to the seas
All mountains that were dung-hills.
Safe now to embrace.
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