Disco

by Colleen Curlin

Ever since we locked the doors, 

a little orange sequin follows me around the house.



Shining up at me from the closet floor, ready to

twirl for the mirror in jumpsuits with fringe appliques 

my harvest moon is missing the drama of 

eyelashes spidering from closed lids lost in a beat. 



Catching the light of my desk lamp, flash of

strobe lights across a sea of bare shoulders and new friends. 

There is little reason to celebrate now, energy mute 

unlike the rainbow palette dappled the sticky cement floors in my mind. 



A shadow on my heel, my shiny friend appears

looking for a late night snack, toasty 

bread and melted cheese eaten while

dangling toes bounce to an invisible song. 



This tiny sun even follows me to bed, stagnant 

silence replaces thundering rhythm on repeat inside my head. 

We are grieving the shuttered dark places where 

youth melted slowly in our cups. 



My little orange disco dances in place 

nostalgic absence of new memories. 



I’ll sweep the floors tomorrow, 

another something to do 

instead of the somethings that we can’t.

Sent to us on: April 4, 2021

How will the Coronavirus Pandemic shape storytelling for the years to come? 

Calling all Dispatchers!

San Francisco Creative Writing Institute is pleased to announce we were awarded California Arts Council Local Impact Grant! 

With support from the California Arts Council, San Francisco Creative Writing Institute will present Dispatches from Quarantine: hybrid storytelling events and writing workshops. 

The project is scheduled to run until August 2023!

We will be broadcasting the public readings and discussions on our youtube channel as well as hosting four creative writing workshops with writers from diverse genres. The project will continue to be interactive as we will encourage viewers/participants to send in their “dispatches” to be published on our blog, keeping it alive as a living document.

 We invite you to submit a dispatch: 

Suggested Theme:

What is/was your Covid story? How will you tell it? 

You can send submissions in any format to us via email at: All genres will be considered for publication on the blog. submissions@dispatchesfromquarantine.co  The theme should be somehow related to this time of Coronavirus. We are particularly interested in posts/ideas/writings from 2022-23.

Submissions can be sent by email to: submissions@dispatchesfromquarantine.co

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