By Nancy Smiler Levinson
PROMPT—During Covid-19 ...
One of my reserved books
is ready at curbside pickup
I phone for a date Press one.
Name check ID card check
Saturday between 4 and 5
Sweats Mask I set out on foot
Which of my reserved books
awaits me I wonder in step
A sidewalk sign notes
pickup/drop-off library garage
Chris’s car and a mail truck
are parked at the back wall
Hey I greet him behind
a roped-off table up front
Crinkles at the edges
of his eyes show his smile
He hands me a sanitized
stapled brown paper bag
Take care now
be well stay safe
I tear open the bag
an historical novel Hamnet
Shakespeare’s family imagined
in the time of the plague
love grief hope resilience
perfect date for me tonight
Nancy Smiler Levinson is author of MOMENTS OF DAWN: A Poetic Memoir of Love & Family, Affliction & Affirmation, as well as work that has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, most recently Global Poemic, Sleet, and Writing in a Woman's Voice. A poem, "Look for the Silver Lining," was included in The Journal of Expressive Writing in 2020. In past chapters of her life, Nancy published thirty books for young readers. She writes from Los Angeles, CA.