Wind whips.
Flag snap raps its mast
like striker on prayer bowl.
Crispy oak leaves
somersault across cement.
Freshly falling snow, fluffing
soft powder: pure white.
Calm, quiet . . .
Sprigs of fragile green above.
Flecks of colored crocus
below.
Pungent earth
alive again.
Blacktop shimmers.
Dress shirt sticks.
Cicadas, unseen,
click cacophonous.
***
And I go
every day
in and out.
Tomorrow and the next and the one after that.
In again, and then back out.
A rhythm. A routine.
From student to apprentice to master,
chasing cancer, coronaries and, now, COVID.
And where I go
steely-eyed glass
unforgiving concrete.
Non-plussed by it all . . .
inside
or
out.
Acknowledgments
The author thanks Kimberly Myers, PhD, Penn State Medical College, for her helpful feedback on this piece.
Compliance with ethical standards
Conflict of Interest
The author declares that he does not have a conflict of interest.
Footnotes
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