If We Forget about Having to Shout: A Covid-19 Poem

If we forget about shouting,

Hello, at neighbors,

neighbors yawning

opening windows to yell

back, How are you

holding up? while their

oldest daughter waves

madly at Little Girl, all seems

normal, just as all is

normal later as Little Girl

and I later lean into 

windows that overlook

our marsh, watching

mergansers build nests,

excited to have these novel

neighbors—soon merganser

chicks that we’ll say Hello 

to through glass.