day TWELVE HUNDRED and TWELVE

Corona (March, 2020)

Every time a sign says “Don’t touch your face,” my nose starts itching.

My face is lonely for my hands.
My hands are lonely for my face.
My body loves itself
eEvery part of my body loves every other part.
“Stay six feet away,” say the signs
but my hands can’t get six feet from my face.

--Marion Cohen

AUTHOR BIO, in case it's helpful:

Marion Deutsche Cohen is the author of 31 collections of poetry or memoir; her latest poetry collections are “The Essence of Seventh Grade: A Kind of Autobiography” (Alien Buddha Press), “The Project of Being Alive” (New Plains Press, AL), and “The Discontinuity at the Waistline: My #MeToo Poems” (Rhythm and Bones Press, PA). She is also the author of two controversial memoirs about spousal chronic illness, a trilogy diary of late-pregnancy loss, and “Crossing the Equal Sign”, about the experience of mathematics. She teaches a course she developed, Mathematics in Literature, at Drexel University, as well as a new course, Societal Issues on the College Campus. Other interests are classical piano, singing, Scrabble, thrift-shopping, four grown children, and five grands. Her website is marioncohen.net .