Overheard at Table 3: The Year of Wearing Masks

The Year of Wearing Masks


Oh, how I loved you in the year of wearing masks!
That was the year when you showed me you loved me,
You did not want to sicken me, nor I to sicken you,
or your children, or my children, or their children, and

as well, when you wore your masks and when I wore mine,
we were a little less strangers then, for, while we
could not see each other smile as we passed by
in the grocery store, we introduced ourselves through

our choice of masks, whether it be a tartan plaid, or
a Hello Kitty print, or “I Can’t Breathe,” or the cover of
Pink Floyd’s Animals.  There were bold statements, like:
Peace!, Freedom!, MAGA!  There were Joker grins,

Rolling Stones tongues, there were simple black, stripes
of all kinds, there were American flags, Texas flags,
there were pictures of mountain ranges, or monster trucks,
slogans such as “Let’s do this!” and even “Everything sucks!”

It was the year of wearing masks, when we finally,
wore our personalities across our faces, and we
were a little less strangers then, you and I, and we
knew each other, even though we had never exchanged a word.

 

 

MR

2021-0812