I am afraid to go the grocery store,
not because I am an older citizen,
but because one of my feet is longer
than the other, and I will spread
the virus with involuntary asymmetry.
Roughly two-thirds of us have one
foot longer than the other; many
have a longer leg. My shoulder
blades are not the same,
nor are my eyebrows or my ear
canals. I am a walking repository
of novel coronavirus, dangerous
at any speed. I look closely
at photos of Senator McSally,
trying to determine whether
she is symmetric. I know she talks
out of both sides of her mouth,
but does she do so symmetrically?
I cannot help being asymmetrical;
I was born this way. How long
have I been spreading deadly
diseases, I wonder, and why
has no one stopped me before
now? This is a deadly health crisis:
Measure your body parts now,
before you cause damage
with your crooked ways.
Diane Elayne Dees has two chapbooks forthcoming. Her microchap "Beach Days" is available for download and folding from Origami Poems Project. Diane also publishes Women Who Serve, a blog that delivers news and commentary on women’s professional tennis throughout the world.