When this is all over
Will I look back and remember the lock-down,
The queues for goods we didn’t need,
The avoidance dance as I encountered strangers on the footpath,
The endless Zoom meetings, starved of normal interactions?
Or will I remember the last time we all lived together in one house?
The loud and chaotic mealtimes,
The beautiful mess,
The pause at a doorway, listening to the laughter of siblings, lolling around a table
The constant presence of a man in the bed beside me, with no urgency of short weekends
The luxury of slow, ambling conversations.
As the world slowly returns to normal
Will I lament the departure of each person
One by one, stepping out to their separate futures
Leaving me behind in the large empty house
Remembering this time, wistfully….