I need a word

by Mary Lou Clifton

Calling all wordsmiths. I need a new word. It needs to be a feeling word. Here I am in week four or maybe week ten of sheltering in place, and I’m feeling how? I don’t know how I’m feeling. I need a new word.

Throughout my life I’ve felt the feels that we’ve all experienced. I’ve known happiness,joy, loneliness, grief, fright, ambivalence, etc. None of the ways I’ve felt in the past fit today’s pandemic situation.

Someone suggested limbo. Well, clearly we are in limbo, but I need a more definitive expression.

I have everything I need, a warm and pleasant home, plenty of food and some money. Can communicate with those I love and miss via the telephone or computer. I’m able to go outside and walk around. My mail comes every day. I can watch television or do a puzzle or read. There are plenty of things to occupy my time. So why am I feeling so…so what?

I need a word, a new word.