On January 22, 2021

I will turn off the news cycle.

I will become an amnesia victim

That wipes 2020 from my memory.

Wearing a mask

Keeping social distance

Will become as natural

 As wearing my hearing aids.

 My brain will shut off

 The longing to see

Live theater and concerts

Watching a film in a movie house

Will feel like a gentle omission.

The absence of hugging

Will no longer ache.

Learning through zoom

Will satisfy my palette.

Anxiety about the virus

Will be AWOL.

Virtual reality will be

An emotional windfall.

If COVID is amputated,

 It will be a beautiful

Gravy train.

If my brain

Has to be reprogrammed

From the new normal

To the old normal

So be it.