Cell 2 Soul: The Humane Health Care Blog

LOOKING BACK...

By Jane Seskin

I REMEMBER
the amusement I felt hearing Toilet Paper was
in short supply and the anxiety later as I stood
in front of an empty supermarket shelf.

I REMEMBER In the early months not leaving
the house without my gloves.

I REMEMBER going to the living room window
at 7 to applaud the first responders.

I REMEMBER sobbing with grief reading the
obituaries from “Complications of Covid-19.”

I REMEMBER saying a meditation for myself
and others to be safe, hopeful, generous.

I REMEMBER getting the Q-tip tickle and
waiting for the verdict on sick or well.

I REMEMBER a week or more of unlimited
sourdough bread and butter, pasta, donuts!

I REMEMBER giving masks in zip-lock
bags to the homeless.

I REMEMBER going from blonde to gray and
reframing it as chic and sophisticated.

 

(Applauding first responders)

Link to full screen video.

Jane Seskin (www.olderwisershorter.com) is a social worker and author of the poetry collection Older Wiser Shorter. Her poetry and personal essays have been published in national magazines and journals.

2 Poems by Shirley Adelman

Holding On

Winter afternoons,

         Post concussion:

Light glaring from windows,

Trips me up.

           Dizzy, staggering

From sink to table,

             Exhausted from,

Trying not to fall.

               I hold onto Whitman,

Like a child grasping

           a parent's hand,

Finding solace,

           In his words:

"I exist as I am, that is enough."

"Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman", 150th TH Anniversary Edition, Introduction by Harold Bloom, Penguin Classics, New York, 2005, ( Song of Myself ), p. 49.

 

*****

No, No

In the arms

of another,

the little girl

cried, "No,

Mommy No.

No, Don't go,"

as her mother

boarded -----

         a bus.

I fell back

to the gurney,

calling out,

"Let me-----go---

----Let me--------go"

-----until,

           an

             es

               the

               sia,

took me---------

           away.  

 

These poems appeared in Kaleidoscope Exploring the Experience of Disability Through Literature And The Fine Arts,
January 2020, p.49.

A "LUCKY" Find or How We Became Painters of Rocks

By Wendy Clothier

It all started in early June. I was exercise walking alone and came to a corner where I noticed a colorful small rock stacked upon a concrete property marker. It was a (lucky) ladybug!! I looked it over and decided, Nah, I don't want to take this rock. . . it was not that well done and I figured someone else might like it. I saw it again on my next walk, then when I walked with Richie, my husband he noticed it. I told him how I "rejected" it! The next visit to that spot showed the ladybug had "flown the coop!"

The following weekend's newspaper included some pictures of painted rocks, a spot where they were distributed, with the message to take one and then bring one of your own creations to replace it. We then understood the ladybug, after reading that the adult artist placed a few rocks around the city and also in one spot at a gate nearby Egremont Elementary School. Richie and I visited that spot and got so wrapped up in the idea after seeing the sign that said. . . "TAKE ONE AND INSPIRE, SHARE ONE TO MOTIVATE. Help our garden grow." I picked up and kept one decorated with a rainbow, with a cloud that said LOVE. I thought, "Hey, I could do this, too. It might be fun!"

I found a few rocks, washed them off, and dug out my old acrylic paints, paint brushes, permanent markers. . . and began to work. I realized I needed more than just the dried out paint pots from a hundred years ago. We hit Michael's for more supplies and the rocks also became all varieties of SHELLS to paint! It was necessary to coat the paintings with gobs of Mod Podge coating, and then a final spray sealer, so that rain would not wash off the paints as the finished products lie on the ground. Richie got inspired, too!! He painted one snow scene and a few faces, but his specialty seems to be putting single words and phrases on his rocks. This is really quite a process, and has us totally involved. Little did we realize that a pandemic would expose our creative side!

Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation

In his final days, dying of pancreatic cancer, Congressman John R. Lewis had some parting words for the American people. They offer hope in these turbulent times. On the odd chance that you missed them, here is the first paragraph and a link the NY Times has made available to all interested, and sentient, readers.

One of our readers, YT, pointed me to Morgan Freeman reading John Lewis' Last Words.  It's 5 minutes long and powerfully moving with words and images.

"While my time here has now come to an end, I want you to know that in the last days and hours of my life you inspired me. You filled me with hope about the next chapter of the great American story when you used your power to make a difference in our society. Millions of people motivated simply by human compassion laid down the burdens of division. Around the country and the world you set aside race, class, age, language and nationality to demand respect for human dignity."

Link to full essay.

Peony Season 2020

what peonies!
one poem per flower
will not do
            ~ Ryumin

White peonies blooming along the porch
send out light
while the rest of the yard grows dim.
-- Jane Kenyon

the applause
of one and all shower
the peony
             ~ Issa

half a mind
to dress up and bow down
to the peony
     ~ Shiki

This Bauble was preferred of Bees
By Butterflies admired
        -- Emily Dickinson

Her Shadow

My Shadow

Robert Louis Stevenson

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

Full Poem: Download My Shadow

SGN (Some Good News)

Actor and filmmaker John Krasinski has started his own news show on YouTube called "Some Good News" (SGN) from the comfort of his own home.

Known for his role as Jim Halpert on “The Office,” Krasinski shares good news from around the world as an antidote to what we are now bombarded with 24/7. The smiles SGN provokes are greatly therapeutic!  Each weekly 15 - 18 minute episode is a welcome respite from doom and gloom.  I'd recommend starting with Episode 3 if you are a baseball fan.

Episode 1.  SGN March 29, 2020

Episode 2.  SGN April 5, 2020

Episode 3.  SGN April 12, 2020

 

The show's logo was designed by John K.'s young daughters.

Boris Johnson Thanks the NHS!!

This is an important and moving tribute to the NHS.  It's so sad that the U.S, does not have a similar national health system. It could come from the Covid 19 epidemic, but will our politicians allow this to happen?  Sadly, this is doubtful. Listen the Boris Johnson:

If you prefer a full screen, here's THE LINK.

Dr. Suess's Seder in the Year 5780

Seder in the Time of Covid-19*

I do not want you in my house
I do not want you or your spouse
I do not wish to eat with you
At Seder One or Seder Two.

Don’t get me wrong, I think you’re nice
But CDC gave this advice
Ten plagues genug, don’t need no more
We’ll turn Elijah from our door

This year's only guests are mom, pop, sis and bro’
Next year in Jerusalem, we’ll be with others though
From now on at Seders, this tale we’ll tell
How G_d saved His people with a squirt of Purell.

* The provenance of this doggrel, inspired by Dr. Suess is unknown. It is starting to virally spread on line.  If we learn who its creator was, credit will be given.

Poems in Plague-time.

Poems and Quotations that resonated with me in the Time of Covid -19

 

March 27, 2020

There's a certain Slant of light,

Winter Afternoons –

That oppresses, like the Heft

Of Cathedral Tunes –

 

Heavenly Hurt, it gives us –

We can find no scar,

But internal difference –

Where the Meanings, are –

 

None may teach it – Any –

'Tis the seal Despair –

An imperial affliction

Sent us of the Air –

 

When it comes, the Landscape listens –

Shadows – hold their breath –

When it goes, 'tis like the Distance

On the look of Death –

 

March 29, 2020

Samuel Beckett, The Unnameable

''I can`t go on, but I must go on. I will go on.''

(note... there are some different renditions.  These are the last words in the book)

 

April 12, 2020

Yiddish Proverb

If the rich could pay the poor to die for them, the poor would make a very nice living.