Listen to the world’s best poetry read out loud.

Every cough was an embrace.

Every droplet hung in the air like a promise.

Every sneeze pleased their eyes,

the captured mist a gift.

They stood at bus stops and held

gloved hands in the rain. They hugged

under streetlights, their plastic shields

squeaking against each other.

It became a ritual: hand sanitiser

squeezed into waiting palms,

ten fingers rubbed on and around and between

their hands, squelching together

in a cleanliness only

the disinfected could know.

Every surface was wiped.

Every door kicked open.

Every keyboard and mouse drunk

from the fumes that were scrubbed

along each letter and number and button

And in bed, they kissed through masks,

triple layers of cloth now shrouds

to keep them safe,

separate and safe,

silent and safe.