Day 18 of #the100dayproject - The last day I wrote poems in a café

The last day I wrote poems in a café

The café was full of people dripping
from the rain outside. I sat at a long table
flanked by many different people
sipping their coffees and eating pastries.
I talked to the woman across from me,
asked her what she was writing on her laptop.
She wrote content for hospitals and the CDC
and she was writing about this new virus.
She was worried about it, but she nor I
knew that this would be the last time
we would sit down in a café to talk or
strike up a conversation with a stranger.
We didn’t know that it would be the last
time we would see other faces without a mask,
or exchange breath as if the air we breathed
wasn’t shared between everyone in the café,
as if our breath was ours and ours alone,
but just like the long table, our coughs, sneezes,
sighs, laughs; everything was communal, collective.

#Napowrimo & #the100dayproject 2020

Hello all,

I'm back from 9 months of life! And it's my favorite time of year. In honor of poetry month, I will be writing a poem every day based off of the prompts provided at NaPoWriMo. Poetry month has become a yearly tradition from the very first time I began in 2015. And it's not just me. Every April millions of people participate in poetry centric events across the US and the world to celebrate poetry. It's an exciting time, but this year is going to be strange and different. The Coronavirus pandemic has cancelled all poetry groups, events, readings, and workshops. Meeting face to face with poets is a vital part of being a writer. We cannot live a siloed life. In order to improve and be better writers, we must learn from our peers, workshop, and commiserate.

Regardless, our latest technologies have afforded us the ability to host virtual groups and events. My fellow poet K. Szpekman and I have been workshopping our poems from afar and I've been participating in virtual Shut Up & Write Ins when ever I have time. All of this is essential to feel connected and to not feel like I'm living in a bubble. This year's poetry month is going to matter a lot more to the poetry community than other years. Not only do we have nothing else to do but to write, but we also must write to move beyond the fear and panic that has become our new norm. We must write as witness to our changing and turbulent world.

Our words matter and this April we will come together in a collaborative effort to witness.

Please join me starting April 1st and write or read a poem a day. I'll be posting my daily poem on this blog and linking it to the NaPoWriMo site.

I look forward to our poetry. Stay safe and healthy.

With love,

Brittany Mishra