{"product_id":"plague-poems-2020-vision-9781733540063","title":"Plague Poems: 2020 Vision","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"It ain't over 'til it's over,\" I believe the great Yogi said. To which someone\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eadded, \"yeah but when it's over, it's over.\" Well who knows what the future\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewill bring? Que sera sera. We may be facing a very dark winter as in Game\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eof Thrones, or we will see the death of this virus at the kind hands of nature\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewho so unkindly delivered it to us in 2020.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLike other artists in this pandemic I have struggled to come to terms with\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eall the new burdens it has brought us: masks, social distancing, shortages, \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eless than truthful politicians and scientists, loneliness, fear, sexual frustration\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand the sad irony of putting all this in the context of a beautiful spring and\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ecreatures not knowing the world has changed. A woodpecker rat tat tapping\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eon a tree in the forest for his breakfast, puffs of daisy seeds flowing on the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebreeze, the sun so warm, the grass so green and fresh. Robins, titmouse, \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand tiny hummingbirds miraculously making their way across the Gulf for\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ea little bit of sugar water in burgeoning blossoms.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is a world Camus first looked at in his book THE PLAGUE and another, \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTHE STRANGER. His words become prologue and epilogue to my\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eown observations, and in the middle of all of this so far, the season of Easter\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewith its promise of resurrection and transformation. Love, amusement, hope\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand just training your mind to observe what the world has become and what\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eit may yet be, the opportunities Camus first looked at in his plague and later\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe stranger.One happy result of this artistic thrashing about has been the chance to\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ereconnect with old friends such as Pancho Malenzanov who painted his village\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ein the middle of a hurricane which seems appropriate for the cover of\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethis particular book. I divided the book into four parts, somewhat arbitrarily \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebeginning with Pandemic; then Play including occasional observations and \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eattempts at humor; then Roommate, since when you're living with someone you\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eget to learn a lot about them; and-finally-Easter with prayers to help us see the light. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Covid Casualty\" is a sad reflection on the aftermath of living in lockdown with \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003esomeone you love, a drama which has played out in any number\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eof households as the isolation and forced togetherness takes its toll. A sacrilege \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eperhaps to compare the suffocation of a room mate who could not\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebreathe to that of George Floyd dying at the hands of a cruel fellow human\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebeing, and the global uproar fueled by the frustrations of isolation. A single\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003epoem serves as an epilogue, since its rather bleak assessment does not really\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003esuit for the section titled Easter. Still, as an indictment indictment of capital\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003epunishment, it seems an appropriate vision of Camus' humanism, his compassion \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efor the human predicament to end with. As da Vinci has said \"it is\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ean infinitely atrocious act to take away the life of a man.\" This is what the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003evirus has done atrociously in thousands of cases now. These poems mean\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003enothing if they forget those thousands who in desperation and courage have\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eachieved their own death. The collection ends with a final image of hope\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand resurrection, a last final word. Even when its roots are in the dirtiest waters, \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe lotus produces the most beautiful flower, an ancient symbol of rebirth, purity \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand self regeneration. It calls for spiritual enlightenment so\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003edirely needed in these troubling times when all life is threatened.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Poets Choice Publishing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/28\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781733540063\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 86\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.38lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.22d","brand":"Richard Harteis","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41521164976309,"sku":"9781733540063","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_d4181007-7cbb-4bed-bd23-3166fc5839cd.jpg?v=1641915893","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/plague-poems-2020-vision-9781733540063","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}