Quarantine

drinking my tea
for what comfort it brings me,
I stand by the window
watching this half-hearted quarantine.

beneath me, the river
runs with white clouds,
its rippled alternative
of black against silver
like light in the morning
catching a badly scratched
frying pan.

there are people about
and cars wandering, though I must admit
there are fewer than usual;

a black fragment
of burned bacon, submerged
in what’s left of the fat.

DS Maolalai has been nominated four times for Best of the Net and three times for the Pushcart Prize. He has published two collections of poetry, Love is Breaking Plates in the Garden (Encircle Press, 2016) and Sad Havoc Among the Birds (Turas Press, 2019). He studied English Literature at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, and recently returned to Dublin after several years of living in the UK and Canada.

John Weik is an artist in Austin. View more of his work at partysloth.org.