Three Hundred and Fifty-Seventh Entry, Coronavirus Poetry Diary
smiling faces
in these little cages
year-end Zoom meeting
Chen-ou Liu
My Dear Readers/Fellow Poets:
Today is the last day of 2022, a year of living dangerously. Share with you the following haiku and tanka in the hope of ringing out the old/bad and ringing in the new/changing. And a gentle reminder for everyone: Life is change, but growth is optional.
last day of the year
poems I could have written ...
a bulbul follows
drifting leaves
to the stone cairn
Sonam Chhoki
wall-to-wall bookshelves ...
I put away
the old year
Marion Clarke
a fresh leaf
white in the winter
of a new year;
it seems a shame
to mar it with words
M. Kei
how it shines
white on the ground
the fresh snow ...
I will step
into this new year
Kozue Uzawa
new year saké ...
the gradual dimming
of your flaws
Roberta Beary
first dream of the new year:
we buy back our wedding rings
from the pawn shop
Steliana Cristina Voicu
To conclude today's post, the last one of this year of living dangerously, I would like to share with you the following poem:
Three Hundred and Fifty-Eighth Entry, Coronavirus Poetry Diary
written in response to the explosion of COVID-19 cases in China
rain mixed with snow
as the tridemic surges
this new year's eve
darkness flickers around
the edge of my quarantined mind
FYI: The "tridemic" is the combination of three respiratory virals, Flu, coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), and RSV, that have overwhelmed North American health care systems for weeks. However, to the best of my knowledge, there is no "public health" measure, such as mask mandate, legally required (not recommended) in indoor spaces across all major cities in North America.
Added:
one Pope left ...
remains of this Buffalo church
buried in snow
FYI: At least 39 people have died as a result of the extreme weather, with the region in and around storm-besieged Buffalo, New York state, emerging as ground zero for an Arctic deep freeze. For more, see ABC 13 News., Dec. 29: Buffalo, NY storm death toll rises to 39 as roads reopen, search for victims across area continues
And Rolling Stone, Dec., 31: Pope Benedict XVI, a Staunch Traditionalist Surrounded by Scandal, Dead at 95
Benedict’s papal tenure was also tumultuous. Just months before before his retirement, Benedict’s former butler was convicted in a Vatican court of stealing and leaking confidential documents that had exposed corruption, cronyism, and infighting throughout the Vatican. Additionally, Benedict was heavily criticized for not doing enough to address the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church during his papacy.
And The Conversation, Dec. 31: Pope Benedict XVI: A man at odds with the modern world who leaves a legacy of intellectual brilliance and controversy
After his election, Pope Benedict XVI had to confront a growing sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. While a cardinal, he had publicly downplayed the extent and seriousness of the crisis. And it was under his leadership that The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith decided not to remove Lawrence C. Murphy from the priesthood, even though Murphy had been accused of molesting more than 200 boys at a Catholic school for the deaf in Wisconsin.
Benedict did not move to open Vatican records to public investigation, and he also failed to discipline cardinals and bishops who reassigned pedophile priests.
Most recently, a January 2022 report on sexual abuse in the diocese of Munich criticized Ratzinger’s “inaction” regarding four cases of sexual abuse during his period as archbishop from 1977 to 1982. In reaction to the report, the pope emeritus apologized but did not admit to any administrative failures.
Added:
burned in a car fire ...
months later under first sunrise
a new face
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