By Paul Robert Mullen
the main drag through town
ghosting
barren
a police van trails me to
the roundabout
a temporary digital sign flashing
stay home, save lives
the engine of the world has stopped
i can’t help but think
transfixed
by the empty windows
shuttered storefronts
signs of apology attached to letterboxes
& lampposts
i wear a mask in Morrisons
wait for people
to leave the isles before
scuttering through
holding my breath
we observe each other like an unfamiliar race
suspicion & distrust
bubbling in our eyes
it’s a lottery
of malevolent droplets
the PM // cooped up with symptoms
says things will get worse
before
anything gets better
Author:
Paul Robert Mullen is a poet, musician, lecturer, radio presenter, traveller and sociable loner from Liverpool, U.K. He has three published poetry collections: curse this blue raincoat (2017), testimony (2018), 35 (2018) and disintegration (2020) He has been widely published in magazines worldwide. Paul also enjoys paperbacks with broken spines, and all things minimalist. Follow him on Twitter @mushyprm35.
This poem is a part of the DISTANCED project.
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