Rules for the new normal

 for old school folks who still write down dates in a calendar book

Put your pens away

find a broken pencil in the back of your kitchen drawer

with hopefully some eraser on the end

write your dates in said pencil, appointments, flights, parties

or your calendar book will be a scratched out mess like mine

wedding in Nashville, canceled

baby shower canceled

appointment with lawyer who now has Covid, canceled

Drs. appointments re-scheduled

parties , get-togethers on hold

memorial services put off for another time

really will there be another time, ever?

services, events, piled up behind one another

like a mass collision on the freeway

life has twisted, turned, flexed again

we are at the mercy again of that sneaky virus

we thought we had the upper hand with vaccinations and boosters

numbers going down at last, kids back to school

then my grandson gets Covid and the cycle starts

family quarantine, Poppa gets a test

and why can’t I find Special K

food shortages, delays, it’s the new way

get used to it, accept it, don’t be rigid I tell myself

settle on Cheerios, get on with your life,

 don’t let fear take hold

adapt, you are a pencil too