Analysis of Summer 2020

Black cat scampers across the green grass, my laundry drying, crossword done,
City burns outside, shattered glass, sirens blaring, papers strewn, stores looted.
Cultural wasteland, barren wilderness, no end in sight…
Is this really the summer of 2020? Why, if we could only reverse the last two digits of the year,
I’d be a wondering, naive twenty again, gone all night, the future bright with possibilities…ah, has it really been that long?
In my mind, I long for the summer of 2019…it seems like ages ago now…
2018, 2017, 2016…gone so soon, are you?
I, a brooding thirty-eight…reminiscing about lost youth, and carefree summer days…and should I head downstairs again, to see if the mail came, fill my coffee cup on the way back up?…counting down the hours until evening prayer…
Sitting on the sofa, glass of ice water, watching cars go by, worn, mid-eighties paperback of
Lake Wobegon Days in hand, school work done, a new year to come when August
Rolled around…waiting eagerly, but letting time play out as it will…wallet, keys, phone
In pockets…visit to parents’ house, sleeping in my old bedroom, green walls, green floor, staring out into the moonlit night, my old suburban neighborhood at peace, grateful for all
I have gotten…driving to the bookstore, dishes done, Sergeant Pepper’s playing in the background…1991 baseball card packs opened…sacred rituals, what do they really mean?…reminiscing about the days of lost youth…but still hopeful for a bright future…
Much contented with the world…we will yet endure.
Haven’t we all died and risen a thousand times already?