I want to know
when it will be 
permissible
for me to Turn my face
away from the 
blood-soggy state
of the world and 
return to praising
the clarity and 
loveshocked hue of
my beloved’s eyes,  
to bask in the sun
under the leaves of 
a grand oak while 
summer buzzes around us,
to drowse without 
reaching for the radio 
to turn up a raging
story or turn down
a tragedy.  I want to know
what it feels like 
not to care about
what is happening
in places other than my
own garden. Now that
my privilege and my ability
to ignore so much
have been torn to rags,
I want to know how
I can mend them well enough
to enjoy unalloyed happiness
again, as this desperate 
scrabbling to seize joy
between moments
of fear is so hard; 
I cannot understand
how so many millions
have done it
for so long.