Arts Alive San Antonio

Today, we feature a poem by well-known Canadian poet, and first Poet Laureate of Saskatchewan (2000-2004) Glen Sorestad, paired with the famous fresco of the White Angel from the Serbian Orthodox monastery of Mileševa in Serbia. Painted in 1235 during the reign of king Stefan Vladislav I, it is considered one of the most beautiful examples of Serbian and European art from the late Middle Ages. Part of a larger fresco, the angel points to the empty tomb of the resurrected Christ.

Afternoon Chat

By Glen Sorestad

After two months of social distancing,
self-isolating, and living our lives as if
we were the last two humans left,

we visit with our long-time friends
who have also bungalowed themselves,
in their own quarantine thoughts.

We meet in their backyard for
BYOB glasses of wine, our two-metre*
wines, as we call them; it seems

almost as if there is initial fumbling
for what we should say — a hesitance
to begin, where do we start?

as if perhaps we need to re-learn
the natural agenda-less chat:
what do we always talk about?

In the past two months of social
isolation, it seems our language
skills and usual glib small talk,

our quick apt repartees have fled,
deserted us, become lost in a chasm
of discarded and forgotten words.

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*equivalent to 6 feet