Page 3 - Cafe Volume 1 - e-magzine
P. 3
Editorial
Note
The virus happened. Lockdowns reassembled as a friend of a friend of
happened. Schools, colleges, offices, a friend in cyberspace, —over Zoom
shops—everything closed down. The where we started our literary circle. It
shutters came down. That happened. was a way to keep ourselves optimistic
The world went very quiet. Then and to keep our minds diverted.
very, very quiet. The whole world did. So we began to gather. We imagined
Scared quiet. An airborne invisible the space that we were meeting in not
enemy was stalking us all. And we as the matrix that shows up on a zoom
had to keep our distance from those screen of faces and usually one talking
we did not know and even those we head—but instead as a Cafe. A happy
did, from each other. Everything went loud and friendly place. Filled with the
on hold. Dialed down to zero. All bets din of conversations. And for the past
were off. Plans went sideways. Some seven months or more of this weird
just evaporated. year of 2020, spread over three cities
But in all this we willed ourselves to we’ve met twice a week for 3 hours
hope. We created. Because of books the each—at what might read as 10 to 1 on
love of books and writing, we reached the face of a clock if you drew it, but is
out and entered into another world 10 pm at night in one city and 1 pm in
together, socially distanced and distant the afternoon in another. We’ve talked
from each other. Because we had a about literature and art and theater
pre-existing condition for imagination. and music—we’ve talked late into the
A propensity to read. A proclivity to night and afternoon and as the planet
cherish, honor and love books. Some turns, turning time to dawn and to
were strangers to each other—a few dusk and we’ve written pieces. We’ve
were friends. A couple of us were read them out loud to each other. We
just acquaintances. In the “before” haven›t killed time or passed it away.
times, a few of us had met briefly, No instead we›ve marked it with our
amongst shelves of books and now had words. More than half a year has gone
