Christopher Bursk: The Plague in Early Spring
The first week in the first year of the plague,
when we told ourselves there was no plague,
the flowers were more than willing
to confirm our opinion.
Laure-Anne Bosselaar: Complaint About Missing Friends after Ten Months of the Pandemic
Verlaine threw pail after pail after
cold water pail on the gravel under Rimbaud’s
windows, to cool the air as he slept.
Christopher Bursk: Nor are we fit to force our way across
when I was a child
I wanted with all my heart to be the one
to suffer
Video: Soul Of The City
The owners of six small ethnic restaurants in New York City show how they’re coming back with the help of their communities after the Covid shutdown.
Sharon Fagan McDermott: The Summer of Nectarines
Plague on the winds, in the air,
on our tongues in the midst of old conversations.
Molly Fisk: You and I
the whole country snarled into such a hot mess
you wouldn’t recognize democracy if she
removed her skirts and danced on your lap for free,
pretending to like you.
Derrick Z. Jackson: Systemic Racism Continues to Plague Pandemic Response
The chaotic roll-out of the vaccines has meant that people with access to the internet, reliable transportation and flexible hours have a much easier time getting vaccinated.
Naomi Shihab Nye & Michael Simms: Writing Prompt # 6 | Dear Vaccine
As we enter our new lives
will we remember
the faster we moved
the sicker we got?
Rachel Hadas: Holding on to hope is hard, even with the pandemic’s end in sight – wisdom from poets through the ages
As we begin to glimpse what might be the beginning of the end of the pandemic, what does hope mean? It’s hard not to sense the presence of hope, but how do we think of it?
Owen Hughes: Vaccination
After the shots
Not a fever
No side effect
Except this pause
William Petri, M.D.: How effective is the first shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine?
After a single dose of either vaccine, you have very high levels of protection after your body has time to build immunity, about a week. The scheduled second dose of these vaccines makes them even more effective.
Derrick Z. Jackson: States Dismantle COVID-19 Safety Protocols at Our Peril
Many policy makers have completely forgotten the deadly consequences of last spring’s abrupt, premature ending of lockdowns.
Rebecca Gordon: What Makes a “Good Job” Good?
These days, all I want to do is weave. The loom that’s gripped me, and the pandemic that’s gripped us all, have led me to rethink the role of work (and its subset, paid labor) in human lives.
Rajan Menon: A Covid-19 Hell on Earth
How This Country Fails Its Most Vulnerable: A Field Guide to Our Threadbare Social Safety Net.
