His Faith Died

 

His faith died, and what replaced it?

He felt his faith dying as masks

covered faces 

covered chins covered

smiles

lips.

 

He wondered – what was his faith?

How did he know it was going?

Would he know when it was gone?

As he washed his hands over, over and over

as his house filled with the smell of disinfectant

lifting his mask up and down

in the mirror

he wondered who he was.

 

He let his faith die

its death was inevitable

around him masks

covered faces

covered chins

faith could not breathe

normality was brutalized

happiness, a fantasy 

and wonder

had not been invented.

 

His faith died, he buried it

in his garden.

He wondered about this plague

he felt sun on his face, did he imagine it?

He wondered about the sun, this air

he heard the virus could be killed

he brought his wonder, during the brief pain

in his shoulder

as he received his inexplicable protection

he brought his wonder that this protection could be

invented out of nothing

he brought the ghost of his faith

he brought the youth of his wonder

he buried his masks

he breathed.

 

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