Seen on our quarantine walks
small colorful fairy doors
sprouted on the tree trunks.

Each leads to a miniature suburban garden
its backyard cluttered with dollhouse furniture:

A tiny hammock a swing a garden bench
little plastic cups on a picnic table
for its invisible residents to drink from.

Magical entryways for escape —
a hopeful sign that the world
still retains its enchantment

Offering us a brief respite
from our confinement,
no matter how small.

[Lorraine Schein is a New York writer and poet. Her work has appeared in VICE Terraform, Strange Horizons,Scientific American, NewMyths and Michigan Quarterly, and in the anthologies Wild Women and Tragedy Queens: Stories Inspired by Lana del Rey & Sylvia Plath. The Futurist’s Mistress, her poetry book, is available from Mayapple Press. Her book, The Lady Anarchist Cafe, is out now from Autonomedia.]