the speed of loneliness

We can't stay more than 6ft apart  
these days loneliness
travels faster than covid  
and we all have things we want to say  
 
Everyone is talking and no one is listening  
and the walls of this apartment  
are simultaneously  
too close to my neighbours  
and too far away  
 
Cause I don't want to hear about  
your colonscopy and boundary issues  
with the neighbours in unit 1  
 
I don't care that the lady in unit 1  
has a bad hip  
and complains about being endlessly broke  
yet clearly has a shopping addiction  
and a shoe fetish by the looks  
of the pile of sneakers and sandals  
building up by her front door  
 
And I'm pretty sure  
no one wants to hear about  
the gluten-free semi-vegan cookbook  
I'm not writing  
but have composed in my head  
under the delusion that it's safe  
and I won't forget anything  
 
Almost all gluten free cooking is crap  
and I could nearly, nearly  
kill someone in their sleep  
for the chance at a glorious  
carb riddled mac and cheese  
without pasta that's made of chickpeas  
lentils or buckwheat  
 
But no one cares  
 
You're six feet away  
but your voice carries through walls  
and up stairs, and interrupts my sleep  
 
If I have hear one more 11pm argument  
I am going to do  
...absolutely nothing  
cause I'm not that kind of neighbour  
 
And I'll continue to politely excuse myself  
every time someone accosts me  
in the drive way or outside my front door  
because in a block of flats  
the last thing I want to do  
is start a neighbour war  
 
We can't stay more than 6ft apart  
these days loneliness  
travels faster than covid  
and we all have things we want to say  
 
© Indie Adams 2021