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Photo by Michael Fenton on Unsplash

Baby, I cannot imagine
keeping social distance
from you
when the moon reflects
your light

Baby, I know 19 ways
to love you
19 ways to touch you
but, none to stay
away from you

I cannot stand it
to look at you
from a distance
and create some resistance

I cannot stand it
you being there
where my eyes taste you
Yet, you are a distant star

Baby, I know 19 ways
to love you
19 ways to touch you
but none to stay
away from you

For a month, a week
or a day
COVID-19 or no

COVID-19
has never been my dream
and I cannot pull
back the shades
as sweet waters beam
off your body

Can a fish live
without water
can a sea live
without kissing the shore
can anyone social distance
from food, drank or breath

COVID-19 may dispatch
our lives like Romeo
and Juliet
and the thought of not
holding you for a moment
or a thousand years
could kill me, because

Baby, I know 19 ways
to love you
19 ways to touch you
but none to stay
away from you

Disclaimer: The views in this article are those of the author. Prison Journalism Project has verified the writer’s identity and basic facts such as the names of institutions mentioned.

Spoon Jackson is a poet and a radio producer for “Uncuffed: Stories from Solano State Prison.” He writes a column for Global Oxygen, a Swedish newspaper, and has also written numerous articles for The Good Men Project. His most recent book has been published in Germany. Jackson has won four PEN America Prison Writing Awards and featured in four documentary films. He is incarcerated in California.