Sociophobia

Posted on 2020-04-23 by Bartholomew Barker

For today’s prompt, take the phrase “Social (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem.

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Sociophobia

Even before social distancing
if I saw someone from work
as I entered a grocery aisle
I would reverse direction

like an all-star running back
and head for the next gap
even if I liked my co-worker—
I just wouldn’t feel like chatting.

These days, any human elicits
the same reaction. Even a woman
in a summer dress with a sexy
mask evokes visceral fear.

Once this plague has passed,
and it some point it will,
will I be able to return
to being merely anti-social?

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About Bartholomew Barker

Bartholomew Barker is an organizer of Living Poetry, a collection of poets in the Triangle region of North Carolina where he has hosted a monthly feedback workshop for more than decade. His first poetry collection, Wednesday Night Regular, written in and about strip clubs, was published in 2013. His second, Milkshakes and Chilidogs, a chapbook of food inspired poetry was served in 2017. He was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2021. Born and raised in Ohio, studied in Chicago, he worked in Connecticut for nearly twenty years before moving to Hillsborough where he lives and writes poetry.
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6 Responses to Sociophobia

  1. Cassa Bassa's avatar Cassa Bassa says:
    2020-04-23 at 20:49

    Haha we introverts 😃

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld's avatar Lisa Tomey says:
    2020-04-24 at 06:11

    Excellent poem. It flows well.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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