Dispatch #081
The evolution, April by J.I. Kleinberg For a while, in the first months of the pandemic, you feared your hands: that they might be the engine of your destruction, grab from the […]
Dispatch #080
The Revolt of the Homeless by Gary Beck The young patrol officer and the tired, cynical Sergeant slowly herded the homeless off the subway car. The young officer kept saying: “C’mon guys. […]
We Were Awarded a California Arts Council Local Impact Grant
Dear Readers, I’m pleased to announce that San Francisco Creative Writing Institute just received a Local Impact Award from the California Arts Council. State funds will support Dispatches from Quarantine: A literary blog […]
Dispatch #079
The Waiting Room by K.R. Morrison Sleeping awake in dream, I visited the waiting room of those always socially distanced One crew of ancestor slaves baked a cake for Saturn laughing they […]
Dispatch #078
Hallelujah by Rowena Choy Henry On the night before his inauguration I watched President-elect Biden and his wife and Vice President-elect Harris and her husband attend a ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial […]
Dispatch #077
Shadow by Mir Yashar Seyedbagheri Phil sees his shadow. I see shadows too. Older sisters, mothers, smiles, and hugs over Zoom. Shadows of I-love-yous, words crackling, and promises to see each other […]
Dispatch #076
Winter 2021 Alien Nations by Gerard Sarnat i. Otherness Plague tanka Entering Year II, mid-septuagenarian’s grown weary spending precious time sequestered — not hugging/ kissing loved, dying. * ii. West […]
Dispatch #075
Bald Rapunzel by Robert E. Petras Me—leaning over the balcony, Confined for a 14-day sentence To the garage apartment, Found guilty by nose swab, The negative positive of these times. My […]
Dispatch #074
Ghosts by Rowena Choy Henry At the beginning of the pandemic in New York City I felt a searing sense of deja vu when I heard the stories shared by the nurses […]
Dispatch #073
THE GUITAR MAN IN QUARANTINE by John Grey I’m wary of doorknobs and the breath of others but this wood I’d trust with my life. I’m nervous putting my hands most places […]
Dispatch #072
WHEN THE DARKNESS by Michael H. Brownstein Everything is tumbling to an end, a rock fall detour, water cascades, a glint of silver wash and obsidian. Soon darkness will no longer prevail. […]
Dispatch #071
Blue Mask Seas by Stephen Mead (for my Friend, Tom Stephany, taken by Covid on World AIDS Day 2020) They are so easy to picture: that ridge for the nose a wave’s […]
Dispatch #070
Platinum City by Hongri Yuan Translated by: Manu Mangattu Ah! Of iridescent gems of time The heavenly road you paved light！ In a kingdom of stars, I found my home. In the […]
Dispatch #069
Covid Pariah by Mark Tulin I am a Covid pariah, an uncomfortable outcast, an undesirable, a black crow, wild and untamed, solemn in a strange and foreign land where people don’t care […]
Dispatch #068
Covid Camouflage by Angie Bell oh what an odd masquerade with eyes that wrinkle in smiles while the real smile is disguised and we dance six feet apart ever hesitant longing to […]
Dispatch #067
CHANGE by Marlene Waldock Yesterday I walked freely In grocery stores Through the malls Today I am masked Afraid to talk to others Staying six feet apart Uncertain about the […]
Dispatch #066
Pandemic, 2020 by Pat Hanahoe-Dosch She woke in rain, the grief of an entire city, water and wind in the darkness. She burned, but rain could not extinguish her, […]
Dispatch #065
Ryoko by Katy Van Sant Ryoko came to our house on a rainy day. Everyone liked the rain at that time because it made us feel cleaner. The virus was everywhere and […]
Dispatch #064
And the Pleiades, Midnight By: Alexandra Kostoulas Moon has set and Pleiades: middle night, the hour goes by, […]
Dispatch #063
Shelter Journal by Sara Shelton Mann it’s when your shoes are filled with ice you know you took the wrong turn falling backwards and holding your breath, learning the piano you sit […]
Dispatch #062
Groundhog Day by Valerie Sopher after Ben Lerner the endless loop of living another sea-tossed sleep another morning lying in bed penciling in Sudoku squares another sheltering day of can’t get over […]
Dispatch #061
A Shadow on the Wall by Thaddeus Howze Have you ever wondered ifyou’ve died and no one told you? You’re going through the motionsbut nothing in your life changes… A series of […]
Dispatch #060
3 Poems The Routine of Space by Angela Costi Honour the time not made from the list of work nor the menu of food nor the drama of screen nor the soaping […]
Dispatch #059
tools at hand by Peggy Morrison It seems like the beginning of the end of the world heart heavy with spooky darkness forests consumed by orange flames massive plumes of smoke rising […]
Dispatch #058
Silver Lining by Norma Smith My animal sleeps, eyes open, on her gray sheepskin pad beside my desk. She’s curled up, snoring gently. Both of her two-leggeds have stayed home with her […]
Dispatch #057
Night and Day. Covid, October 21 by Penelope Blair Late in the evening I read an email from my poetry friend It sounds reluctant, and casual despite the potential for panic She’s […]
Dispatch #056
Lower-Class Artist Imagines by Tongo Eisen-Martin Grip my heart tighter, Lord Help me write on this sleeve… like listening to Nina Simone later in life The poet takes over for his former […]
Dispatch #055
2 Poems by Andres Cordoba the heart keeping me alive When spiders build webs it is from the center out. They are fishermen in their wordless devotion, traversing gaps far too large […]
Update on Dispatches from Quarantine
December 7, 2021 Dear Writers & Readers: After a series of setbacks which caused an almost year-long hiatus in our publishing cycle, we pleased to announced that Dispatches are back! We have […]
Dispatch #054
Zarina Zabrisky 9/11: I have mentioned before that I was booked to fly United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, from Newark to San Francisco, with my family. It crashed in […]
Dispatch #053
The World at Golden Way Our House in Quarantine By: Hilary King Kitchen One morning I wake up and the kitchen is empty. The cabinets beneath the stove, empty. The shelves above […]
Dispatch #052
4 Covid-19 Poems By: Marianne Peele Chicago, IL * Sent in on 8-30-2020. (some poems written in Florida) We Have Grown Soft During This Pandemic August 30, 2020 Belly soft. Hands soft […]
Dispatch #51
Overmorrow Andrew J. Thomas Yesterday was the same as today; is the same as tomorrow. Each day passing, one foot in front of the other, a long aimless walk into wilderness. Our […]
Dispatch #050
Pandemic Gratitudes Melissa Eleftherion Good air quality today A house and a job Simplified hysteria Kitten antics No fights today Enough money to pay the bills Warm bed Glad I’m not a […]
Dispatch #049
A Day in the Life of a Mom Carla petree Skill Drills 8:15 am – healthier lifestyle YouTube videos with D 9:00 – educational skill drills with C 10:00 – Thursdays, read […]
Dispatch #048
The Language of Books By: Adriana Macias Carmen woke up in a bad mood today and spent the rest of the day finding some fault in everything and everyone. The Shelter In […]
Dispatch #047
Quarantine By: T.S. Rowell July 5 2020 When it began, for an uncertain duration this was to be a month of stillness two months of these same walls or maybe just one […]
Dispatch #045
3 Poems By: Ndaba Sibanda Corona Poems A Poor Person’s Precarious Paces And Spaces Her efforts to hold back, to hold herself back Against hurtling and hurting herself helplessly With a hungry, […]
Dispatch #044
3 Poems Kitty Costello Ode to Soap A repetitive acrostic Savior of all people Soothe our aching psyches Scrub our appendages pristinely Sluff off atrocious pathogens Secure our antiseptic perimeter Shelter our […]
Dispatch #043
Two Poems By Cassandra Dallet Body Count Fourth of July July 2-4, 2020 The days are marked with death tolls infection rates blazing red states and a barrage of bomb-like fireworks San […]
Dispatch #042
By Peggy Morrison In this country, we live in an ironclad cultural box cast iron thick and immobile individualistic/tragically separate/competitive We can’t find our way to simple collective action for the common […]
Dispatch #041
2 Poems by Keith Mark Gaboury Italy Macguill, Dan. “Did Video Show Italian Army Trucks Transporting Coffins Amid COVID-19 Pandemic?: A Stark Illustration of the Tragic Impact Coronavirus Had on Parts of Italy in […]
Dispatch #040
2 Poems By: Fizza Abbas Lockdown Chef All that greens is not mint As the lockdown began, two wooden doors welcomed me into a territory that was quite unknown: the hub of […]
Dispatch #038
Crazy by Miles Cates, age 8 Inspired by Shel Silverstein’s, If The World Was Crazy sent on June 4, 2020 If the world was crazy, you know what I’d eat? An entire […]
Dispatch #037
2 Poems By Hollie Hardy A Murmuration of Starlings In the cities, protestors break quarantine and windows expressing moral outrage, like a choreographed ballet at 45, your mother asks you to move […]
Dispatch #036
By Haldane King Originally Published as a Facebook Post It’s great that everyone is upset about Christian Cooper, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd, it really is. I’m delighted in the smidgens of […]
Dispatch #035
Those of Us, The Other Diaspora Collective Yiorgos Anagnostou There are those of us who immigrated to this country with next to nothing and now find ourselves accomplished—the American Dream is imprinted […]
Dispatch #001
–Alexandra Kostoulas | This whole thing is hard. Some days are easier than others. Today was one of those days that was easier emotionally. But the few times I do go outside […]
Dispatches from Quarantine 
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