- Inhale, but not too deeply unless you have recently disinfected your
workspace. - Wash your hands again.
- Secure your mask over nose and mouth. Take care so it doesn’t fog up your
glasses. - Now you are ready to begin. Close your eyes. Try to ignore the
sound of your partner’s conference call. And the salsa music from the house
under construction next door. And the noise from your kids playing video
games downstairs. Maybe come back to this step later. - Imagine a time when you could leave your house on a whim. Where would
you go? What was your motivation? Describe that trip to the dry cleaner
or the grocery in detail. - You may feel tempted to check your phone or the news. Don’t give in.
Nothing good will come of it. - Get up and stretch. All the working at home videos say this increases
oxygen to your brain. For exercise, pace the perimeter of your tiny office
like an animal in a cage. Doesn’t that feel better? - Sometimes music helps to soothe anxiety and grease the wheels of
creativity. Anything to stop the sound of hammering from next door. - Start by making an acrostic of the word PANDEMIC. Don’t hold back.
- Give up and go watch a movie. We know that’s what you want to be doing
anyway.
Copyright 2020 Susan Scheid
Bio:
Susan Scheid is a poet who lives in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, DC with her family, her cats, and her vivid imagination. She is the author of After Enchantment. Susan’s work has appeared in About Place: Dignity as an Endangered Species, Gargoyle, Truth to Power, Beltway Quarterly, Little Patuxent Review, The Sligo Journal, and other journals. She has work included in the anthology Enchantment of the Ordinary (Mutabilis Press), and the chapbook anthology, Poetic Art. Susan serves as the Board Chair for Split This Rock.
Donation Appeal:
Throughout June and July, we will be presenting on this web site work by poets and artists responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope you will find these works relevant, comforting and inspiring as we all cope with the economic and health-related fallout.
As you view the work on this site each day, we would like to encourage you to donate to the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC). Their mission “ is to feed our neighbors in need by providing dignified access to supplemental groceries. AFAC is seeing a record number of families due to the COVID-19 pandemic as families who never thought they would ever be in need are now showing up at our doors for much needed food.” And, in keeping with our hunger-focused efforts, you may also want to visit the Poetry X Hunger website where poems by many poets are posted and are being used by anti-hunger organizations.”
Throughout June and July, we will be presenting on this web site work by poets and artists responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope you will find these works relevant, comforting and inspiring as we all cope with the economic and health-related fallout.
Please consider donating to AFAC. If you do, let us know which poet or artist inspired you so we can send you a personal thank you.
