Audio: “Invictus” recited by Morgan Freeman
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
Leslie Anne Mcilroy: Zoosk | The Pandemic
We stay put, apart,
constant in longing. And that is all
fine, my friends, except the dying
part. Death all around love’s
little sprouting head.
Deena November: Social Distance Pro
I create ambitious color coded schedules for
my hyper children during a pandemic but they are jumping in puddles, tracking mud all over the house and eating popcorn off the living room rug.
Corona's Jaws: An Anthology of Poetry
Poems by Cynthia Atkins, Jose Alcantara, Judith Alexander Brice, Michael T. Young, Sydney Lea, Charlie Brice, John Samuel Tieman, and Adrian Rice.
Christine Rhein: Panic
Because it’s too late now
to sound the alarm
over the lack of alarm,
over the sudden
wealth of it.
Ellen McGrath Smith: March 22, 2020
As it is, we’re quarantined in cages,
rooms, apartments, city houses, ranches
in the suburbs, the further out you go
the more chance to forget, to forgo
every caution you’ve ever not taken.
Michael Simms: Black Brick, Yellow Brick
I will die in Pittsburgh on a beautiful day…
What did you bring to the world?
You don’t have many days to stay, traveler.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti: Poetry as Insurgent Art [I am signaling you through the flames]
Nemesis is knocking at the door.
What are poets for, in such an age? What is the use of poetry?
Matt Hohner: Viral
Imagine someone with nothing left to lose as a virus
armed with a gun and desperate to spread its bullets.
Danusha Laméris: The Cat
After my brother died, his wife was sure he was living
inside their cat, Rocky. He’s in there, she’d say, staring into
those blank, yellow eyes. Isma’il? Isma’il? Can you hear me?
Robert Okaji: Postcard from Pandemic
They stack their cart with essentials:
frozen garlic, six packages of grilled
mushrooms, fifteen cans of garbanzo
beans, three bottles of truffle oil
Ellery Akers: Our Grief for the Earth is Hidden
When I was born
I thought I’d be taken from the earth
I didn’t think the earth would be taken from me
