The Global Vaccine Poem: I Miss Our Kind

I miss our kind. Remember

how awkward we were?

Too many people in a small café.

Bumping into someone

saying I’m sorry. Spilling popcorn

on a stranger in the dark.

We didn’t know how much

we needed each other.

Dear Vaccine, women once had

names like yours: Maxine, Doreen,

and Bernadine, which means

“strong as a bear.” I imagine you

lumbering through the wilds

of our cellular forests, showing the way

through thickets of berries

to fish-filled lakes.

Oh, lead us back to the wilderness

of touch, back into each other’s arms.

Take us to our green and possible life.