**Poem: "Mask"

 Mask

Cowboy, Ninja, Terrorist-

you can play any role you like

in your fashion mask of choice.

The interwebs are flooded with ads,

your favorite band, TV show, cartoon persona

quickly printed on a nylon sling

contoured to enclose your jaw, your mouth,

the all-important nose,

source of all knowledge

of this vine-ripened disease.

I hesitate to commemorate the trend,

don’t think of it as fashion,

but a horror show with no finale,

necessary evil, like soap or daylight.

The calendar and my inked-in plans

mock me from above a desk

I may never see again.

I hover over a laptop,

perform a mockery of my former tasks,

wear a mask myself of despair, confusion,

pause.

CAR  5/8/20