Suzanne O’Connell’s recently published work can be found in North American Review, Paterson Literary Review, Poet Lore, Good Works Review, The Menacing Hedge, and The Summerset Review. She was awarded second place in the 2019 Poetry Super Highway poetry contest. O’Connell was also nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize and received Honorable Mention in the Steve Kowit Poetry Prize, 2019. Her two poetry collections, A Prayer For Torn Stockings and What Luck were published by Garden Oak Press.

Easter in Quarantine
By Suzanne O’Connell

My scheduling book hovers over my desk.
The blank squares and empty weeks,
fill with air like depleted cells.
The book lifts and glides dronelike near the ceiling.
Next week, on Tuesday,
one lonely notation:
“Mr. Sanchez mows lawn.”

“Is Easter tomorrow?” my husband asked.
“Yes,” I said. “How should we celebrate?”
“By forgetting it,” he said.
“Maybe we could walk the dogs,” I say,
“have coffee, read the newspaper?”
Activities we do every day.

I compare the emptiness of now
to the fullness of the past.
All those other Easters,
family around the big table.
Blood red hard-boiled eggs,
lamb with gravy,
roasted potatoes,
the artisan bread we called Baby Jesus,
so big it was cradled in our arms.
The chocolate rabbits.

Tomorrow, for our Easter, there will be leftovers.
Sometimes the past is better left alone.
This Easter, I’ve found a different inspiration.
Tomorrow I’ll fill each square
of my appointment book with:
“Be Grateful.”