Corona Corona
By Susan McCaslin (See Review in the Literary/Arts Section)
Volume 35 Issue 1, 2 & 3 | Posted: April 4, 2021
What kind of crown bears death?
What kind of queen hefts quarantine?
Parasitic in a liminal zone
you are spikey shell
unaware of the damage wreaked
Our economies forged dark streams
pathways for your kind of havoc
We check our devices
listen to the newscasts
watch our Netflix flicker
hunker in the void
co-avoiding physical contact
incarnate and encapsulated
dreaming new modes of being
Dreaming new modes of being
I wonder why I’m addressing you
You’re just one of many sub-stream –
SARS, Spanish flu, Bubonic Plague
We sit with storytellers, re-configure
Boccaccio’s Decameron, clutch Julian
of Norwich’s
Revelations of Divine Love, ponder
Dickens’
“It was the best of times, it was the
worst of times”
self-isolate with Camus’ The Plague
knowing nothing’s new under the sun
Stranded in paradoxology, we give
thanks for
this contemplative pause
from compulsory progress, Gaia’s
chance
to take a breath as the wild creatures
return
By Susan McCaslin (See Review in the Literary/Arts Section)