Camaraderie

I'll admit

I scoffed

at my company's 

incessant posturing 

regarding returning to the office

content and productive am I

at home in seclusion

what with Teams or Slack

and their illusion of connection

what with my own internal

drive and expertise

I have no need of the office

and its transparent constructs

its inconveniences, its redundancies

but

with my whole team in town this week

I return out of obligation

and find I am delighted

to see all these faces in the flesh

I have only known in brief flat-screened chats

have only heard as disembodied voices

to see and hear and be with these people

in this moment, now

who I may not exactly like

but with whom I have a fellowship

this thing we so closely share

and it is good to be there

to say hello in the morning

to say goodbye in the evening

to ask some mindless inconsequential question in passing

I find this forgotten itch is scratched

I realize I haven't felt this way since 2019. Before.