In Romeo and Juliet, forbidden love
Is immortalized in the balcony scene.
Desire measured by distance.
Forbidden love is now an epidemic.
No longer just for lovestruck teenagers,
It has spread across the city.
Friends, parents, schoolmates, neighbours
One on the porch, the other on the sidewalk.
Love measured in feet, not heartbeats.
How many orgasms deferred,
How many hugs replaced by Zoom airkisses?
How do you measure love forbidden?
Outside my house, a slow procession
of cars. Draped in balloons, honking.
A drive-by birthday party for an elderly mom.
“Romeo, Romeo, where art thou?”
Everywhere, Juliet, everywhere.
Just beyond arm’s reach.
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