I added cardamom to my coffee this morning, three firm shakes in the basket with the beans before grinding. It’s a treat I usually save for weekends, when I have more time to savor the morning brew.
Working from home, I have that little bit of extra time now, to sit with coffee in hand or at my side, listen to the birds outside, read some news, or watch the sky lighten behind the houses to the east.
A poem for today
I started my day reading Billy Collins, one of my favorite poets, because his words are deceptively simple and accessible, and because he’s funny. We all need laughter, and funny poetry can be very funny. Billy’s a really good reader (see how I’ve put us on a first-name basis? It just feels right with Billy!) Here he is, reading one of my many favorites among his poems, “Consolation,” which I think is a timely poem for those among us who are reluctantly canceling travel plans right now.
#AmWriting
I wrote a poem of my own this morning, too, one that I think will need a bit of work to polish but perhaps not too much. It happened because I opened up my computer and discovered that all of my browser tabs were gone and I couldn’t recover them. Sadness ensued, followed by poetry, and all was well with the world.
I voted today—at a proper social distance. My husband and I got up early, walked to the polling place just after it had opened, and cast our ballots quietly and with thanks to the election judges and poll workers who made it possible. Then we scrubbed our hands down with hand sanitizer and headed home.
It was odd, to be sure. Some of the election judges wore rubber gloves; some did not. I kept my (outdoor) gloves on and situated myself at a voting kiosk where the only person next to me was my husband.
I don’t know if turnout was suppressed because I don’t usually get to vote early in the morning. I’m usually at work by then 25 miles away. My typical Election Day involves frantically trying to leave work in time to get to the polling place before it closes. Honestly, it was a treat not to have to do that.
This was day 4 of social distancing for me. We started in earnest this weekend, when I canceled the only appointment on my calendar and we opted to forgo restaurants and bars. It’s a mixed bag, both a blessing and a buggerment as a friend’s son would say. Thankfully, I and mine are healthy so far, and I’m choosing to focus on the blessings.
Little blessings
Here are a few of the the blessings that are helping me stay positive during social confinement:
Walking, including the opportunity to walk to the polling place—I don’t usually have time
Running into a friend of my son (not literally) and walking with him—at safe social distance—to and from the polls
Not driving 25 miles each way to work
Working in a house filled with the smell of cooking corned beef (today: thank you, husband) or pie (Saturday: Pi Day)
Being able to walk my dogs as soon as I finish work for the day
My dogs
Poetry and books
A poetry community
There’s a poetry community coming together virtually during this national emergency—or probably more than one. Just a couple examples that I know of: Headline Poetry & Press is publishing one “pandemic poem” per day. And people all over the world are doing a virtual poetry reading, sharing favorite poems via video with the hashtag #InternationalPoetryCircle.
I wrote a poem myself on the first day of my social distancing: Saturday, which happened to be Pi Day. I worked half the day, but still found time at the end to make pie (yep, there it is!), and I wandered into a little happy fantasy land and wrote a kind of fantasy poem about pie-baking for the pandemic. I sent it off to Headline Poetry and was thrilled to have it chosen as one of their featured pandemic poems. If you read it, I hope it brings a little joy to your world: “Pi Day.”
