-or the uncanny times to encounter love and intimacy-
We had drinks and a deep conversation the Friday before panic started to set in. During our talk I had that long forgotten warm and fuzzy feeling in my belly and chest… I liked him.
My travel plans to perform at a festival in Latvia were canceled on Sunday - for that I am eternally grateful to my dear friends/brothers of a certain basement in chinatown as their heart-to-heart made me aware of the risk of traveling in this perilous time and becoming stranded in Europe amidst pandemic panic- so the week opened up to needed rest, leisure, and planning for what is now a nearly lockdown situation here in Los Angeles.
We kept messaging. Made plans to take a walk on Thursday, before his trip out of town later that day, at the Huntington Gardens. It was raining quite a lot and I had this insubstantial umbrella that gave in rather quick, unfolding my personal romcom, love in the times of covid-19. Under the rain with the gardens almost only for ourselves we kissed in the bamboo forest. His flight was cancelled at this point, so he came to camp in my apartment.
Today is Wednesday, a week since my college work closed its doors to prevent the spreading of the virus (phrase not at all borrowed from an apocalyptic movie btw), a week since he’s been staying with me going against the social distancing protocol; a week in which I have been in touch more than ever with my friends and family in the virtual space; a week of anxiety transformed into proactive action to be prepared for whatever is to come in the uncertainty of the spread and its health, social, and economic ramifications in this paradigm shifting event; a week in which I feel the need to strengthen my network of love, close and afar.
As we canoodle in bed, endlessly talking about our lives, in a more than likely infectious loop, the world outside seems to calm down while people conceal from the unknown... I imagine the experience of what it is to now see clearly into the bottom of the Venice canals.