By Button Poetry
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A short film by The Asia Project.
Transcript provided by YouTube:
00:01
how long has it been the isolation the
00:05
closing in would you say ace weeks maybe
00:09
months what if I told you our numbers
00:12
have been off by a longshot
00:13
because I can’t remember the last time I
00:16
didn’t catch us all looking down how
00:17
long has it been though we staring at
00:21
the screens divided always by glass what
00:24
if I told you this is not the first time
00:26
we started wearing masks our lives so
00:29
heavily filtered as if revealing our
00:31
true selves is a virus we dare not catch
00:33
my god we have gotten so good at being
00:36
detached planning for tomorrow’s and
00:39
tomorrow’s after that social distancing
00:41
is a concept we have always known we
00:44
just called it by a different name
00:45
called it work called it busyness called
00:48
it not enough hours and that they what
00:50
have I told you this is not the first
00:52
time we have sheltered in place on the
00:54
street on the plane on the subway noise
00:58
cancelling headphones press so deep into
01:00
our ears but now I wonder what good is
01:03
noise cancelling when the streets are
01:05
quiet so many moments wandered like
01:07
breath so many memories that never
01:09
became taken from us like a gift we
01:12
never deserved how much have we missed
01:14
the times we could have shook hands or
01:16
hug or kiss let us always remember this
01:19
when the shelves of the grocery store
01:22
were as empty as our hearts when the
01:24
loneliness closed in like the house we
01:26
are forced to stay let us always
01:28
remember this these days when the
01:30
tomorrow’s come and we have nowhere to
01:32
eat these days when the steps felt heavy
01:35
the walk up the driveway to drop off
01:37
groceries or our parents front porch
01:39
watching them wave goodbye from behind
01:41
the window let us always remember this
01:44
so when the gates reopen we can burst
01:46
through the door like the last day of
01:48
school run quickly to those people our
01:50
arms reaching past that six feet gap and
01:53
make a promise to never let go I know I
01:56
can’t wait for the day I can see you all
01:58
once more to cherish every step I take
02:01
towards the microphone and feel your
02:03
love more presently than I’ve ever
02:05
felted before once more to the poets to
02:08
the performers dreaming of the open road
02:10
yearning to again filled eaters who’d
02:13
laughter once more to the teachers
02:15
running their hands along the empty
02:17
desks the chop the settling for far too
02:19
long now to the students trying so hard
02:22
to get through this somehow wishing they
02:24
spent more time looking up from their
02:26
books once more to the restaurants to
02:28
the cooks sopping in their empty
02:30
kitchens waiting for the day to set the
02:33
tables again once more to the hospitals
02:35
and the first responders working the
02:37
shifts that would seem to end the
02:39
weariness of healing us from a distance
02:42
hidden behind their masks but I promise
02:44
with all that I have we will be back we
02:47
will remove those masks and show them
02:49
growing our smiles we will reach out and
02:52
beg to stay in that embrace for a little
02:54
while we will be back stepping out from
02:56
behind that glass and we will cry and we
02:59
will laugh once more once more once more
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This post was previously published on YouTube.
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Photo credit: Screenshot from video