A Mask to Hide a Smile

A poem about the current times

We smiled when we passed each other.
But neither of us were sure if we did smile
Because of the masks we wore.

They passed a law--a law--ordering us
To wear them in public.
Masks of the kind that doctors and nurses
Wear in hospital operating rooms,
To cover our noses and mouths in case
We coughed, or sneezed.

Or smiled.

It's because of a virus, they said,
Going 'round infecting and killing people,
And overwhelming hospitals with deluges
Of the sick and dying.
A virus so contagious, they said,
That you could be infected
And not even know it.

So for now it's a different world.
One I don't like, where we've replaced
Handshakes and hugs
With elbow bumps,
The warmth of closeness
With the coldness of distance and isolation,
Friendliness with fear of each other.

People may die from a virus.
But I've never heard of anyone
Dying from a smile.