Distancing Poem by Frank Bana

You need to take care at the corners
There's a blind spot where you can't see
You never know who you'll encounter -
An Angel of Death or of Mercy

Please don't be hurting, don't be surprised
As you bathe in the sunlight, as I
See you coming toward me, way down the street
And cross over to the other side

I will greet you in any fashion
With a smile, a shout or a wave
It's because of an ultimate caring for you
And for two lives that might now be saved

We need to design a secure etiquette
A protocol that we agree
So no runner or walker takes any offence
From the space we establish between

To ensure special care near the children
Some too young yet to quite understand
Passing by as they make playful moments
With the future fragile in their hands

Now I think of our fellows, living in slums
Or as prisoners or refugees
I am humbled here into a gratitude
That we keep to our distance with ease

This distance was with us before this time
We walked down our side of the street
Do you hunger now with me for shaking a hand,
Does the longing rise in us to meet?