I dreamed that I 
went back to school
this time as a sophomore

I walked up to the door
where the principal stood
greeting students
like he usually did
except now
he had a mask
and gloves
and a bottle 
of hand sanitizer

I received
my required squirt
of sanitizer
and entered 
the familiar halls
but something was different

Everyone was walking
really fast with their heads
hung low and many people
had masks over their mouth
and no one was talking
like they used to

In our first class
the teacher handed out
disinfectant wipes 
and ordered us 
to clean our desks
and when she handed me
my wet wipe
in its sanitary packet
I noticed she
was wearing gloves

All along the halls
there were signs
instructing
on the proper way
to wash your hands
and people were
actually reading them

When I got 
to the cafeteria 
the lunch ladies
were all suited up
even though all the food
was prepackaged

I sat down at a table 
with my friends
and instead of hugging
we just kind of waved
and tried to sit
as far away as possible

My locker smelled
like someone had cleaned it
very recently
the whole school reeked
of disinfectant 

The only thing that improved
was that the teachers had
become much better
with the technology
assigning things
on Google Classroom
with apparent ease 

When the school day ended
my mother picked me up
and asked me
how my day had went
and I replied
with a tear in my eye

So many things have changed