Pandemic Poetry

reading a poem

has lately been difficult

i read a line, the first line

and then the second

and then again the first 

to make sense of it

i still don't hear the poet

i don't get it.

what is she trying to say

the metaphors take

too long to unfold

i feel an itch on the nose

read the second line again

drink a glass of water

come back to the poetry

read the third line

while thinking about 

the image of that hungry man

drinking milk from the road

with the dogs

read the fourth line

about the blossoms

i get that

it reminds me 

of the rain flowers

and the rain and 

the muddy feet

the phone vibrates

and i scroll 

through flowers and skies

and empty roads

some random numbers

talking about death

i come back to the poem

go on to the next stanza

the metaphors ask 

for my attention

but my mind wanders

art heals? it does.

who does it heal, though?