Pandemic Haiku

The world has not seen anything so devastating as the novel coronavirus pandemic since the Spanish influenza of 1918, which killed millions of people. Except in the most remote parts of the globe, the daily lives of one and all have been turned upside down like never before. We are being challenged to adapt abruptly, calling upon resilience and resourcefulness as well as humor even as anxiety, if not panic, rises in the face of sickness, death and job loss. Maybe you will recognize yourself or your loved ones in these pages and appreciate the myriad ways you too are coping with so much uncertainty and disruption. We are all living through this pandemic together.

national emergency --

she stocks up

on cookies

*

whatever weather

every trip to the store

Russian roulette

*

the same walk --

so many passersby

say hello now

*

sheltering in place

not yet a vaccine

family board games

*

coronavirus spread --

she recommends a birdbath

for company

*

everywhere at once

Buddha with the smile

of unbearable compassion

*