I, busy shelving picture books 
All while dreaming of TV cooks, 
was unaware that viral counts
jumped over predicted mounts. 
The number of infected hosts
Bloomed like algae along our coast.
Notified of the coming harm,
I let fall books from my arm.

My thoughts raced to the San Francisco Bay
To my family, 800 miles away.

A library page no longer
Just a child, filled with hunger,
For the family I left behind
For the pay, the hustle, the grind.
Locked inside an unlocked prison 
Quarantined in isolation 
Disinfecting, I made so clean
My body of  Covid-19. 

In my sterile home, I must stay 
From my family, 800 miles away.

Threats of furlough, not so subtle,
Increased our collective struggle
Underneath an orange regime 
which history will not redeem. 
Yet, I found myself quite lucky
To be employed while I study 
Librarianship by the sea. 
A rare gift afforded to me

From my family, 800 miles away
Where my roots will never decay.

Eventually, those with power
Deemed me an essential flower
Whose fruitful labor must be reaped 
So the wealthy can safely sleep.
I, then, with my fellows, returned
To our buildings, where we learned
How to better serve our patrons
Not as before but as strict matrons.

To my family, 800 miles away
I send my hopes for a better day.