{"id":1288,"date":"2020-05-10T23:31:40","date_gmt":"2020-05-10T23:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.talesfromthelake.org\/?p=1288"},"modified":"2026-03-19T22:33:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T22:33:42","slug":"three-poems-in-quarantine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.talesfromthelake.org\/index.php\/2020\/05\/10\/three-poems-in-quarantine\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Poems In Quarantine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_2422[1]\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Oh My Darlin\u2019 Quarantine\u00a0<\/strong><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

This morning I punched my shirt<\/p>\n

I sleep in two long-sleeve tee shirts<\/p>\n

I\u2019m old and chill easy<\/p>\n

The inside cotton seems to have forgotten<\/p>\n

How to slide out of the other<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019m late and need to hurry<\/p>\n

No time for gentle unwinding<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s go fella I mumble to the inside shirt<\/p>\n

Come outta there now<\/p>\n

If you fight me I\u2019ll yank your arms off<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The harder I yank<\/p>\n

The tighter they knot<\/p>\n

The blue and the white get married<\/p>\n

They ignore my plucking<\/p>\n

It\u2019s getting later and the clock is gaining<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The nice talk is gone<\/p>\n

I fling the fabrics on the bed<\/p>\n

I\u2019m kneeling with a fist<\/p>\n

Now I\u2019m really pissed<\/p>\n

You fucker take that<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I punch the shirts in the heart<\/p>\n

I pick the knot open<\/p>\n

Unwind the gnarled cottons<\/p>\n

They are finally free<\/p>\n

And spread open<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I like them again<\/p>\n

We are still good friends<\/p>\n

I trot them down the spiral stairs<\/p>\n

I lift the lid and add suds to their pool<\/p>\n

Now they can dance politely<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a92020 Gary Gladstone<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Senior Stealth Mission\u00a0<\/strong><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

I rise in the blackness of 3:45 am<\/p>\n

And turn all the lights on<\/p>\n

Race through my morning routine<\/p>\n

Take pills and brush my teeth<\/p>\n

Shower then towel and blow-dry my body<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I dress with urgent focus<\/p>\n

Stuff a mask and cold gloves in my pocket<\/p>\n

I make a half-cup of coffee<\/p>\n

Yank on my parka and<\/p>\n

Dash for my car in the chilled darkness<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019ll drive18 miles with headlights<\/p>\n

To the Walmart parking lot<\/p>\n

To be first in the line by six a.m.<\/p>\n

I glove-up and grab a deserted cart<\/p>\n

And find a leaning place to wait at the start<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s two minutes to six<\/p>\n

The long line behind me is shivering<\/p>\n

Security turns the lock<\/p>\n

I move a foot from my spot<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a Ninja shopper<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The door opens with a twist of a uniformed wrist<\/p>\n

I open my phone to start my list<\/p>\n

And sniff a puff of warm merchandise air<\/p>\n

And roll the cart to the soups aisle where<\/p>\n

I pick six cans of Chicken Sausage Gumbo<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I can\u2019t waste time trying to rhyme with Gumbo<\/p>\n

So I circle the store tossing goods in the cart<\/p>\n

And check myself out in the self-checkout zone<\/p>\n

I toss the bags into my car and peel my Ninja outfit<\/p>\n

Now I\u2019m packing my freezer a proud Ninja geezer sipping hot coffee<\/p>\n

At home<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a92020 Gary Gladstone<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Talking To The Daffies\u00a0<\/strong><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Six weeks confined alone<\/p>\n

The self I have has withered and<\/p>\n

Allows me to scream or sing my thoughts aloud<\/p>\n

I have befriended my two beds of daffodils<\/p>\n

Abrupt, cheerful, handsome daffodils are my friends<\/p>\n

We have become family<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I wave at them and proudly point my finger<\/p>\n

To count out loud and congratulate the family<\/p>\n

On the newest opened blossoms<\/p>\n

A backyard miracle of birth<\/p>\n

\u201cGlad to see you fellows<\/p>\n

Keep bringing home the yellows\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The President chases love<\/p>\n

By declaring victory over continuing death<\/p>\n

Chronic, ironic, colonic, bubonic<\/p>\n

\u201cKill the motherfucker now!\u201d<\/p>\n

Screams a voice offstage<\/p>\n

I discover the screamer and he is me<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a92020 Gary Gladstone<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Oh My Darlin\u2019 Quarantine\u00a0 This morning I punched my shirt I sleep in two long-sleeve tee shirts I\u2019m old and chill easy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7zCq3-kM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1127,"url":"https:\/\/wordpress.talesfromthelake.org\/index.php\/2019\/07\/09\/crybaby\/","url_meta":{"origin":1288,"position":0},"title":"Crybaby","author":"Gary Gladstone","date":"July 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"As a young newspaper photographer, I saw some pretty horrific things. 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