Berfrois

Social Distancing

Print

by Melissa Studdard and Kelli Russell Agodon

Today, another piece of loneliness
disguised as toast. My cats roam
the same three chairs, the same three
boxes of light. My mind surfs
the same three memories of touch.
Outside my window, a squirrel sneezes.
Today, even the robin feels too close.

 

 


About the Authors:

Melissa Studdard is the author of five books, including the poetry collection I Ate the Cosmos for Breakfastthe poetry chapbook Like a Bird with a Thousand Wings, and the young adult novel Six Weeks to Yehidah. Her short writings have appeared in a wide variety of journals, magazines, blogs, and anthologies, such as The New York Times, POETRY, Kenyon Review, Psychology Today, The Guardian, New Ohio Review, Harvard Review, New England Review and Poets & Writers.

Kelli Russell Agodon is a poet, writer, editor, book designer, & cofounder of Two Sylvias Press living in the Seattle area. She was the Winner of Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year Prize in Poetry as well as a two-time Finalist for the Washington State Book Awards. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, New England Review, and O, The Oprah Magazine. Her fourth collection of poems, Dialogues with Rising Tides, will be published by Copper Canyon Press in 2021.

Cover image via @MelissaStuddard on Instagram.