Verse for these trying times. (You can also read my Ode to the Banana, my Haiku for Alex Trebek, and my Paris poem.)
CORONA HAIKU
Coronavirus
makes us stay inside and watch
reruns of Mad Men.
Covid 19 is,
I think, payback for human
abuse of critters.
So, while you watch Mad
Men or Bewitched, enjoy a
vegan snack or drink.
(If you choose Bewitched,
try not to channel Mrs.
Kravitz while shut in.)
And when we are free
again, don’t revert to the
eating of carcass.
For St. Patrick’s Day, these words from poet, priest and philosopher John O’Donohue on aloneness and loneliness, isolation and longing. Fitting topics for this time of pandemic (and actually, for whatever time).
We live in a world that responds to our longing; it is a place where the echoes always return, even if sometimes slowly… The hunger to belong is at the heart of our nature. Cut off from others, we atrophy and turn in on ourselves. The sense of belonging is the natural balance of our lives… There is some innocent childlike side to the human heart that is always deeply hurt when we are excluded… When we become isolated, we are prone to being damaged; our minds lose their flexibility and natural kindness; we become vulnerable to fear and negativity.
Taken from Eternal Echoes: Celtic Reflections on Our Yearning to Belong.
One of a kind – brilliant man. This is not exactly an obituary, but a testament to his view of inspiration and creativity.
I first saw this report on 60 Minutes in December – the entire transcript with video clips is here. It tells the story of Francesco Lotoro, an Italian man who has dedicated his energy to discovering the music written by prisoners of Nazi death camps and bringing it to life. What a blessing he is, as is his wife.
Aided by his wife, Grazia, who works at the local post office to support the family, Lotoro has collected and catalogued more than 8,000 pieces of music, including symphonies, operas, folk songs, and Gypsy tunes scribbled on everything from food wrapping to telegrams, even potato sacks.
The couple have established a foundation to archive the music and their work in their native Barletta, in the Puglia region of Italy. When/if I am lucky enough to return to Italy, I will visit Barletta and the Lotoros’ foundation.
Whatever happened to Notre Dame’s bees?
A good piece (by Ray Pennings, an acquaintance from media circles) about the dangers in Canada’s assisted dying legislation.
Novel written at Auschwitz to be published in English.
Hussein Aboubakr gives me hope. So does Mohammed Saud.
Give this man – a kitten-rescuer – all the awards!
Another man who deserves all the awards.
In my view, this is a legitimate reason to nuke a country.
In Sweden’s most notoriously anti-Semitic city, a rabbi and an imam are trying to make a positive difference.
The librarian who saved Timbuktu’s cultural treasures from al Qaeda.
Never stop! Centenarian Japanese photojournalist is still working.