After the text is a video with me reading the poem, followed by comments from poets Beth Weinstock and Steve Abbott. We met on May 17 for a Poetry Circle during which poets read poems — finished and unfinished — to the others and then comment with encouragement and criticism.
Want to attend an upcoming Poetry Circle? Register here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUodOusrjwqHdJse_dsGT2oqcp1dTyJQM9L
(Note: Due to the intentional design of the Poetry Circle, you will be muted throughout the conversation among the pre-selected poets. There will be no opportunity for you to be audible.)
Note: Since the May 17th Poetry Circle, I changed “among” in the last stanza to “amid.” “Among” felt like it must be among a variety of items. “Amid” feels like it can be amid an uncountable groove. (I chose not to go so far as “amidst.”)
Do The Pandemic
Shall we dance along iambic
To ascertain what is pandemic?
More than Covid, I assure you,
Spans the globe with viral purview.
Solitude’s become organic.
Shortages are trans-Atlantic.
Unemployment joins the rank,
As companies do walk the plank.
Food insecur’ty, risin’ shorelining,
Farmers folding, cafes flatlining,
Tabloids bagging, theaters boarded.
Peek in your cupboard. (T.P. is hoarded.)
Perhaps our hope might also surge
— a little skip amid the dirge!
Traffic’s light and, if we’re breathing,
We’ve all some time for cr’ative scheming.