The computer becomes just another window
bringing the world indoors
as I remain at home in a parallel space
while chaos reigns outside.
My existence is reduced to walls and a roof
beautiful and comforting, yet still
I pace the floors in an agitation
trapped through no fault of my own.
I wait for the day that safety can return
as my lungs labor for the air they breathe
for the first time following doctor’s orders
and finding new ways of living and being.
Perhaps this is the transition, this waiting
like the caterpillar feels
before transformation bursts onto the scene –
I remain without wings
until I write them in for myself
longing for my own return to health. – Caroline A. Slee