Quarantine - A Poem

Quarantine

The wind blew straight and strong and cold
When I found a skull near the baseball field
Behind the Catholic boys’ school gym

I don’t usually touch animal bones – it’s
A fear of disease I learned young
My parents were very clear about this

But I picked it up anyway and turned it over
I wasn’t even sure, at first, what I had
Maybe it was trash, something plastic

I stood there looking carefully at the skull
And as I did, I heard no cheering
The sounds of the game faded away

I don’t know what animal it came from
There wasn’t much left to it, just enough
A rodent, maybe a squirrel, I’m not sure

I looked closely, with childish intensity
The small teeth, the snout, the eye sockets
Where the jaw had been joined to the skull

I wanted to show someone, to show it off
Instead I glanced around, and threw it away
Wiping my hands over and over on my shirt