First Encounter

First Encounter I first heard its name in passing, somewhere between Boston and New York, someone at the rest area mistook it for another Mexican invasion "That's why we need the wall." If only we could build a wall against it, with a huge sign "Coronavirus not welcome." A first glance is always important if it leads to new insight. And then came the deluge of news burying us alive while tears filled the eyes and the surreal took over the world, though the air was cleaner, and the traffic lighter, and hope for post-pandemic never in short supply -- it's only human to imagine victory over the odds. swept up suddenly in paranoid spasms like helpless passengers in a runaway train edging closer to the valley of despair.