The same thing at the same time

“There’s never been a time in modern human history when every person is seriously worried about the same thing at the same time. And there’s never before been a ubiquitous threat that can be so instantly broadcast to a world of 7.8 billion people.”

— David Ropeik, consultant on risk management and former instructor in risk communication at the Harvard School of Public Health

The End of the World

But here in the calm latitudes of this room
I am thinking that the end could be less operatic.
Maybe a black tarpaulin, a kind of boat cover,
could be lowered over the universe one night.
A hand could enter the picture and crumple the cosmos
into a ball of paper and hook it into a waste basket.
A gigantic door might close. A horrible bell could ring.
We could have fire, ice, bang, and whimper all at once.

— Excerpt from one of the poems from The Art of Drowning

Hunkered Down

UPDATE: This is definitely a work in progress. My uke guru is suggested some changes. Thinking it might be fun to add one new verse a week for as long as COVID-19 hangs around. We’re talking epic. (Put this on YouTube for anyone having trouble streaming here.)

UPDATE: I’m going to record this again and change “Chinese Virus” to “Donald Trump’s Virus”