we used to see each other’s smiles 

and feel the warmth of a long hug

brush tender fingers in hand shakes and holds

without second thought 

dancing freely and laughing boundlessly

care and caution seemed far away 

in a world where everything stayed the same

today, emotion only seems tangible through one’s eyes

when a smile and a smirk and sigh all hide behind 

masks and cloth and worry 

when you long to see people you once thought 

would always be there 

and when you scrub your hands red with fear 

and when staying united together feels impossible

amidst isolation, 

all you wish for is to go back to yesterday