For today’s prompt, write a nature poem. Could be nature like trees, leaves, grass, birds, etc. Or your poem could tackle human nature. Another possibility is to look at the nature of technology or the interaction of planets around each other and the sun. Or well, the nature of poetry! When in doubt, just see what happens naturally. — Robert Lee Brewer, Writer’s Digest
pollen counts
I hope it was the pollen
the counts were high
when we ate dinner out on the deck
Wednesday night
False color scanning electron microscope image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower, morning glory, prairie hollyhock, oriental lily, evening primrose and castor bean.
Image: © Public domain image (created by the Dartmouth Electron Microscope Facility)
now it’s Friday
and I woke up Thursday
with one eye crusted shut
and my throat scratchy and sore
so far there’s no fever,
so maybe it’s not corona.
I haven’t been anywhere at all
for over a week,
but my husband works in health care
and is bound to be exposed,
maybe has been already
I guess I’m about 50/50
that it could be the virus.
Some moments I’m just sure,
of course that’s what it is,
and others, I think, nah,
it must be a false alarm.
we are prepared as we could be
and so now we just wait
if symptoms increase, I’ll go for testing
because William has to know
so he won’t put his patients at risk
time ticks by
I ask myself if I feel better or worse
this hour than the last
I feel tired.
But is it because I woke up in the middle of the night?
Or stress in general?
Or is it fatigue, another sign?
I’ve got to keep my mind busy
or I’ll spiral down into
the what-ifs
and all possible bad outcomes
these are my thoughts
as I’m alone in my head
socially distanced
careful and cautious
that maybe it’s come for me anyway
I’m probably fine
time will tell.
I was pretty confident that I had something besides COVID-19 until my husband told me that in fact some cases had presented with pinkeye as an early symptom. I’m trying to remain upbeat about it, since I still don’t have a fever and haven’t been in contact with anyone outside my household in more than a week. But on the other hand, why not me? I could have picked it up last Thursday at the grocery store. Or it could have outmaneuvered William’s attempts to decontaminate every night when he came home from working at the hospital those seven days in a row last week. Like I said, the arguments in my head are going about 50/50 that it makes sense I have it and it makes sense I don’t. All I can do is wait.