You are invited

to participate in a study
measuring empathy, or rather
   regarding social distancing during
      a reckoning of human
capacity. the current coronavirus
situation.    asks me—us—
            to apprehend an intimate magnitude
if you agree, the survey—bias
  and belief in black
    bright pixel—             is completely anonymous,
   untraceable to the right supramarginal gyrus
meaning no one
   will know how many inhalations
I have shared   how you answer with familiar strangers,
                sitting knee to knee on route 22
your truthful answers are important
                 pushing my grandmother’s cart
                while she buys gai lan
               in the supermarket
to help us understand the unrelenting presence of gravity
   thoughts, feelings, and practices
   shepherding the world’s weight
regarding social distancing into lungs we did not consent to share
         and you may not directly
benefit from yet
   lungs come in pairs for a reason
being in this study   others may benefit from the doubled wing of your next exhalation sweeping
      individuals
       households
        and communities
                  to the gas shrouded harbor of mine.