When the virus arrived in D.C. 
events were canceled one by one:
senior parent meeting
dinner with friends
school auction
I cut them out of my Apple calendar
as if with a machete in a dark wood
clearing a way out

Then events came along 
that needed no cancellation email:
college tour
spring break trip
grandparents’ farm
We cut them down anyway
because this was our work

Now when I open a new week and see:
swim lesson
orthodontist
Blue and Gold Banquet
I just hit delete and these things
disappear 
without a sound
like trees falling in a forest 
when no one is there to hear