'Attempted Isolation' by Katie Isham

Dusk.

Just me.

On my own.

Sat in a field.

Social distancing at its peak.

Soothed to be shrouded by grass.

I pick a dandelion and blow gently.

The parachutes drift across the grass like snow.

Once clumped in community, they land in lonely isolation.

One snowflake makes it further, eventually settling on a branch.

A stray branch, a long way from its tree, or any.

Now it has company as the seed nestles into the cracked bark.

Two elements of nature now joined, more interlocked than I am to anything.

The thrum of nearby crickets and distant cicadas cocoons my consciousness until I choke.

Even here, where I thought I’d be alone, I’m surrounded by life, existing and co-existing.

I succumb to the heartbeat of nature, lying down and digging my fingernails into the soil.

Inhaling the pollen as a bee buzzes my ear, I realise we can never truly be isolated.