Dispatches from Quarantine:
Young People on Covid-19

Quarantine

I was ill until proven
healthy. My mother
left me small foods
laid on paper plates
on the stairs, running
away as I came out.
A date, some almonds,
a sweet potato stabbed
through with a fork.
I despised her for being so
scared of me, for crying
to the doctor If she comes down
I will feel panicked. I did not come
down. I stayed still for six days,
four of which I did not get out
of bed. My father texted me
from downstairs, saying that
he missed me. I heard yelling
down below, I heard her slam
herself into the bedroom.
She started to ration
the seltzer water. She texted
This is hard on all of us.
She left some Pop Rocks packets
on the stairs and texted me
that she hoped I would enjoy them.
The candy stained my tongue a blue
I had never seen before, it was nuclear.
No one was there to see. I sat quietly,
my tongue showing its colors to the inside of my mouth.