The Magic of Layering (Cont.)

By Tanvi Rastogi @tanviidotcom

Lately I have been cheating on prose with poetry. Below is one of the recent poems I read and loved.

“Quarantine,” by Patricia D. Gao

What if I just want to be
In the same room as you?
Keeping up conversations
Is not my strong suit, I am better at
Breathing when I hear you breathe
Typing at my laptop while you’re
Biting your pen and flipping pages
Or scrolling through your phone
Laughing occasionally
You’d ask to open my window
As it’s gotten too hot
I’d stretch out on the carpet
If I needed a break
Silence on a video call means
It’s time to hang up
But if you were here
We’d have the kind of silence
One would never want to leave.
My friendship with you
Is better side by side, not
face to face.

Back with more Layering