Alter, Edit, or Move

He wants us to hug strangers.
I don’t hug anything.
I hear the omnipotent voice.
He tells us to go toward the center.
We hold our arms out,
dance to the field
exhilarated and communal.

We begin to stretch and the music changes.
We take out our umbrellas.
I am unsure how many of us are participating in this experiment.

He wants us to hug inanimate objects.
We get stuck on the word inanimate,
wonder if trees count.

He’s trying to relax us.
He wants our excitement contained.
We make sure that no one has stumbled or vomited.

He tells us it’s a disguise that won’t hurt anyone.
I give a high five to no one,
thumb war with no one.
We all stand up – except that so many of us are already standing.

A sudden change
I look
it seems as
if we’re all

don’t think

at this point



He wants to know where I live.



He praises our

We’re supposed to
begin to breathe



We make our way there with our fingers


pose. Touch your nose he says.




people are going to look at us funny.


He obviously doesn’t realize



where everyone else