Letter: In The Time of Quarantine
written by: Crystal Davis
Dear Quarantine,
Oh Quarantine, I will always (maybe, sometimes) love you.
I’ve watched you kill people near and dear to me. I’ve watched you place the fear into their eyes. Despite all the horrid torment that you brought with you, caused a tidal wave of fluorescent electricity that has raised the vibrational identities of the guitarists, poets, teachers, nurses, artists like me and you.
Qu-tie! I will always (MAYBE. SOMETIMES.) love you, because you have forced humans to have a little f****** humility. I watched a man let an elderly couple cut him in line at the grocery store because they had less in their basket than he did.
Q-worry-tine… I will always (maybe… sometimes…) love you. It’s been over 52 days, I’m an essential worker, so I still have to go out in this. I am my grandmother’s caregiver and I can’t even hug her anymore. I can’t even give her a kiss on her cheek goodbye and that hurts me to my core.
You have taught me to be brave in the midst of fear; to develop in a time of discipline. You have taught me to be steadfast, but also to allow myself to be weak in a time of quarantine. You have taught me that it is alright to let down my guard and maybe to let down my hair too. You’ve taught me the darkness of the world as well as the darkness of people in the blink of an eye.
You have taught me how to care about… me. I think I’ve written and painted more times now than I ever have before in my life. Sometimes, I feel like a kid again, home on a snow day with my pajamas and a cup of milk.
Quarantine! I don’t want to love you for what you are, but maybe, sometimes, I will love you for what gave birth to:
A Virtual Artists’ Movement in a time of anguish and pain; sharing art and love within virtual reality.
XO,
Crystal
Jersey City, New Jersey, United States
- Letter: In The Time of Quarantine - June 9, 2020
