It makes me never want to go outside
or answer the phone, or read and respond
to email or text message. I deride
in my mind each report and opinion
from live mouth before me, status online,
or gabbing TV image. Yesterday
dining at Wok’s Up, I shouted hardline
to folks I don’t know, who didn’t ask. Say
you’re at the grocery, walking in park,
or gazing at art, I’ll question your mask,
critique your distance. I may even bark
orders for living. My whole body basks
in my voice while I hear my psyche say,
“Why don’t you just shut up, go home, and pray.”
Roger Armbrust
May 31, 2020
