The Clapping

“The Clapping”
Image by Lynne Sachs
Text by Didi Goldenhar
2 min., 2020

“The Clapping” evokes the inside-out of our lives in May 2020, sheltering in place during Covid-19’s first wave. In solitude, we relish nature’s symphony – shimmering rain and splish-splash of thunderstorm – while longing for the hustle-bustle of performance and more populous times.


TEXT

remember

remember my black pleated skirt?

Friday, meet you at the corner

a quick slice before the theater –

Hamlet played by a woman

Gertrude’s very red dress

the crush at intermission

intermission

the crush

then such applause

such applause, the clapping

shouting even

how we rushed to catch the F train

laughing in the downpour with others

with others