“Quarantine Diaries,” by David Garyan (Day 47)

Photo by Tigran Hovhannisyan

Quarantine Diaries – Day 47 April 30th, 2020

Trento, Italy

Good Intentions

In times of need, friends don’t give wallets, and they especially don't give

lavish ones without money in them. What’s a hungry person to do with silver forks? Those who really care may arrive empty-handed, but they’ll always bring their own face— never convey the expression of promises into your home. Although words and actions speak different languages, the former only needs an impulse to grasp the latter. Don’t say you want to change the world if you can’t recite the alphabet of desire. Don’t say you’ll help a loved one if you can’t articulate love. Don’t say you’d run into a burning building if you don’t know how fire burns— faster than it’s pronounced. Too many people have tongues that are longer, but in fact lengthier than old dictionaries no one consults anymore. Like studying fossils of extinct species, what would you know about the awful men and women— mere saints and beasts of the past? Speak honestly; all the mouths you’ve fed and every hand that’s taken more from you than a handshake— how much food will they bring when you ask for a meal? How far will they reach when you’re not holding things to reach out for? No honest people can remain truthful in time. How, if their biographies are written by those who never believed them?