April 14, 2020

while we were out

Two pandas at a Hong Kong zoo, having spurned their handlers’ persistent efforts
for a decade, find themselves alone and, suddenly, enraptured. Mountain lions
are roaming the neighborhoods of suburban Colorado. Images from space reveal 
a startling reduction of smog over Los Angeles, and the subways in New York City,
empty of twitchy commuters, look holy as church pews. In living rooms across America, 
the frayed boxes of vintage board games have been pried open, and as evening descends,
dice are thrown into the centers of coffee tables, and rosy bursts of rivalry inflect 
the low light. For a moment, a warmth settles on the couch cushions, and the ice 
at the bottom of each glass feels glacially cold and pure. Outside, on half-blossomed trees, 
the spring nests are cushioned with promise. Not everything is lost. Not everything.