Friends, Unlimited
Untitled, Oil on Canvas, Genevieve French
My friend C. is the queen of quarantine
-I thought-
when i read a text that said
i’ve been fucking since yesterday and it’s now 7 am, delicious.
Wow.
Intense - I think -
as I move my head and place it on the cold pillow
right across my bed.
It’s morning now,
another day amongst days becomes an endless movie,
a bad chase.
A bird just shat on my window.
All I can see now is a white splash on the horizon.
It’s grey outside and I am getting ready for a walk,
for the touch of a friend.
As she approaches I get her text
My partner asked me not to hug you today.
We can walk,
but I can’t touch you.
Talk about isolation hey?
I feel like a lonely swimmer,
going up and down on an empty lane,
like last Tuesday.
The pool was still open
and a lady training teens said
No one came today, you can have that lane.
And I felt like I was swimming in the olympic games.
I was still getting on trains
pushing the button to open doors with my elbow,
smiling at people
some 5 to 10 reasonable feet away.
Today I count my human interactions with one hand.
We live in this isolated land,
a metaphor of place and minds.
Lonely, grey and stubbornly proud.
But we’ve found love in stranger times,
unknown neighbours start a music band,
invisible crowds gather in a choir of shining stars
people bring you food, and wishes, and cries.
We all rely on one another;
at a distance
through skype...
My parents dance in their living room.
My nana tries to stay calm.
My nieces are sick of each other,
the boys are somewhere far away inside a game.
Maria is cooking pasta in Holland
Julia and Isa are making a film
Nico is writing essays
Ruth is running away for her birthday
Lujan can’t stand her children
Dechu is surfing a wave
Caro is doing yoga with little Cata
Molly is watching Indya eat by herself
Roz is meditating
Lacey is learning something amaze
Clare might be on her way to Africa
Jose is playing the base
Sammy is on her way here
Ceci is plotting again
Beli is cooking something vegetarian
Vicky is running on the grass with her babes
Lolo is down in Patagonia
Sofi is painting again
Tili is walking with Chita
Ire is smoking a spliff
Edgar is dreaming new stories
Jon is making another music set
Pepa is feeding Pericles
Marian is drawing away
Delia is having some time for herself
Marcus is probably in bed
Jane is living her new life
Derek is dancing away
Marie is cuddling a toddler
Tina is laughing out loud
Matilda is dreaming of spring lambs
Rosie is having a herbal tea
Claire has just given birth
Helena is still pushing, a day away
Chula is stretching at home
Sarah is somewhere up north
Tom is putting his kids to bed
Dominic probably opening a bottle of red
All the Hamlets have landed wherever they were gonna head
Lawrie has a new home he’s decorating
Chelo is doing a yoga series by himself
Tamsin is watching a series and seeing a familiar face
Amanda just thought of me and called me
Clau and Simo are eating pizza, again
Luchi is watching the ocean
Flor is watching her husband bake
Uira is missing in action Fede is singing a prayer
Ine is playing with Kuni
Emi is putting Uma to bed
Mani is interpreting the cosmos
Yimmy is watching a film in bed
Marien is dancing quarteto
Cuti is having fernet
Sol never really liked it
Jack got rid of asbethos
Las Mellis are a bit drunk again
Ceci is making new filters
Lali and Julia are kissing
Mer is foraging with fairies
Maru is selling a painting away
Mica is spreading some magic
Laura is feeding Benjamin in bed
Every person
becomes a country
a planet
a constellation of themselves
I dance on my own wearing a new dress
I drink wine like holy water
wish the night away
pretend this is all a fantasy
A good trip
in The Festival of festivals
the ultimate party
with all my friends.
A whole body feeling
of being held.
No distance,
a new today.
Pure consciousness,
Pure love,
Pure presence.
Until we meet again.