One of the many strange aspects of this unprecedented time is the high volume of emails from brands letting us know what they’re up to. A rock climbing gym I tried out once (once!) in 2018 emails me three times a week, with subject lines like “Together we’ll get through this” and “We are here for you.” I’ve heard from clothing chains, magazines I no longer subscribe to, and every hotel I’ve ever visited.

Blaze Pizza assured me that my Blaze Pizza rewards points will not expire for six more months. (I am not enrolled in Blaze Pizza’s rewards program.)

In that spirit, Jessica Salfia wrote a poem called “The First Lines of Emails I’ve Received While Quarantining.” She does a beautiful job capturing the weirdness of the moment.

The Twitter embed cuts off the last few stanzas.

You can follow Jessica Salfia on Twitter.

•April 13, 2020