Welcome to Fran Abrams

 

  Photograph by Rhonda Baer

 

 This evening I'd like to post Maryland poet and polymer artist Fran Abrams' poems from the early part of the pandemic.  It would be interesting to see what people are writing about the middle of this terrible event.  Maybe Fran's poems will inspire you to document this part of the pandemic.  Someday we will be done with COVID-19, but we are far from that point now.

The Old Woman Stays at Home

            Fran Abrams

Voices so few these days.

My husband's voice, only as many words as needed

to stay in sync while staying home together.

 

My daughter's voice on the phone

reminding me not to go out,

asking what groceries we need.

 

Voices coming from the television.

Some with useful information.

Hearing others, I mute the sound.

 

No more voices of everyday errands.

Post office, dry cleaners, restaurant,

places I no longer go.

 

When life returns to routine normal,

I will listen to the voices, grateful 

to hear the music of a world that once again turns.

 

Published online April 18, 2020, at Verse-Virtual at http://www.verse-virtual.org/2020/Pandemic/fran-abrams-2020-pandemic.html

 

 

 The group above is a Philadelphia-area choir that now meets virtually.

 

In the Zoom of Our Lives   

            Fran Abrams

 

In the year 2000, the makers of Mazda

introduced a slogan to sell cars

Zoom Zoom

Meant to mimic the sound

of children playing with toy vehicles

Meant to bring joy into driving.

 

In the year 2020, months went by

when people didn’t use their cars much

A quick trip to grocery store or pharmacy

They walked in their neighborhoods or nearby park

without using a car

It was all about social distancing

 

In the year 2020, Zoom

became a place to meet online

Meant to substitute

for getting together in person

Meant to bring connection to people

forced to social distance during a pandemic

 

When the pandemic ends, will we once again

substitute Zoom Zoom in our cars for Zoom on screen?

Delirious like children

Picking up friends along the way

Filling up real spaces with real people

Once again getting to know people

in three dimensions.

 

 

 

Pandemic Guidance

Fran Abrams

A global pandemic, a deadly virus

spread by breath or touch.

Keep six feet away from other people.

Why not eight or ten?

We're making it up as we go.

 

Wear face coverings when out in public

officials decree.

Overnight, face masks with pictures

of kittens and puppies, sports teams and more

are offered for purchase online.

We’re making it up as we go.

 

Stay at home governors order.

Good choice to work from home.

Set up an office wherever there’s space.

Now there’s a shortage of power strips for sale.

We’re making it up as we go.

 

Professional sports teams debate

playing to empty stands.

Already 100,000 individuals have died

in the United States,

enough people to fill all the seats

in Yankee stadium

two times over.

 

I wish I was making this up.

 

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Before I add some music, I am going to include two tributes to those who have lost due to the coronavirus.  The first tribute is from the end of May: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcy-E5m-iwQ.  It is amazing how young some of the people are.  Pediatric nurse practitioner Samantha Ray Hickey died on July 13 in Boise, ID: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBkqqJ8XiZc.

 

Let's add some music, starting with the Wynton Marsalis Sextet's version of "Twelve's It," a song written by his father Ellis Marsalis, Jr.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxhv-UifIFg&list=PL1iYMIu3e9ZM0qJ-S4E154U1K917iB2lU

Here Ellis Marsalis, Jr. plays "Sweet Lorraine" with his son Branford: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lgz0qB6snw&list=PL1iYMIu3e9ZM0qJ-S4E154U1K917iB2lU&index=2

 

I'll finish with "Joe Cool's Blues," which is from an album that Ellis and Wynton Marsalis did together and released in 1995: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFRIioiECP4&list=PL1iYMIu3e9ZM0qJ-S4E154U1K917iB2lU&index=3