Writing Through the Apocalypse, Pandemic Poetry and Prose, is a collection of sixty-three essays and poems written by writers from all over the world who have been writing together on Zoom every week since March 2020. Contributors include: KM Bellavita / Jayne Benjulian / Toni Bixby / Valerie Anne Burns / Mattie Coll / Amanda Sue Creasey / Amy Elizabeth Davis / Melissa Face / Nina Gaby / Gretchen Gales / John Glanville / Juliana Lightle / Joan Mazza / Golnaz Montagné / Shauna Potocky / Tania Pryputniewisc / Lisa Rizzo / Barbara Rockman / Kathleen Roxby / Rhonda Seiter / Nancy A Shobe / Patricia Smith / Laurna Strikwerda / Justine Sutton / Andrea van der Hoek / Claire Van Blaricum / Alenka Vrecek / Jamie Wallace / Julene Tripp Weaver / Kathryn Wood / Deborah Alston Wroblewski / George Yatchisin.

Contents

Introduction 9

Loss and Grief

Andrea van der Hoek

Loss, Language, and Dogs 13

Tania Pryputniewic z

I Try to Read the Name of Your Perfume 17

Nina Gaby

Sleepless Woman Tries to Give Herself

a Mani-Pedi, Draws Blood and Tears 19

George Yatchisin

Air Can Hurt You Too 22

Kathleen Roxby

The Lingering Storm of Yesterday 23

Jamie Wallace

Postcards from the Pandemic 24

Joan Mazza

To the Woman at Food Lion

with the T-shirt:

Unmasked/Unmuzzled/Unvaccinated/Unafraid 35

Claire Van Blaricum

Then and Now 37

Gretchen Gales

Catching Death 39

Lisa Rizzo

Flu Shots, Portland, Oregon,

September 2020 48

Amy Elizabeth Davis

Contagion 49

Kathleen Roxby

Leaving 50

Toni Bixby

The Plague of 2020 51

Toni Bixby

The Mystery of Lizzy Isham 53

Juliana Lightle

Kingdom of Trees 54

Kathryn Wood

Corona 55

Families and Relationships

George Yatchisin

I Would Have Thought 57

Julene Tripp Weaver

Saving the World 58

Joan Mazza

What Did You Buy During Quarantine? 60

George Yatchisin

Re-evolution 65

Mattie Coll

Another Covid Thanksgiving 66

Amanda Sue Creasey

They Really Keep You Going 69

Melissa Face

Leaving the Nest 72

Golnaz Montagné

Rain 74

Justine Sutton

Ancestors 75

Julene Tripp Weaver

When I Die 77

Claire Van Blaricum

To the Woman Who Lunches Alone 79

Golnaz Montagné

Safe Places 81

Jayne Benjulian

Paradise 83

Laurna Strikwerda

Knowing Unknowing 84

Patricia Smith

My Body Remains a Problem 87

Julene Tripp Weaver

A Love Story 91

Kathryn Wood

Truth in the Time of Corona 92

Hope and Joy

KM Bellavita

Carry On 97

Valerie Anne Burns

Amber Dawn 98

Amanda Sue Creasey

When This is Over 99

John Glanville

Beginning the End 101

Amanda Sue Creasey

2020-2022 (a haiku) 102

Golnaz Montagné

One Thing 103

Shauna Potocky

Untied 105

Joan Mazza

I'm Not Going Back 107

Laurna Strikwerda

To That Voice We Call Fear 109

Golnaz Montagné

Simple Pleasure 111

Shauna Potocky

Letter to My 15-Year-Old Self 112

Justine Sutton

Rainy Night in Wonderland 114

Julene Tripp Weaver

Breathing Space 117

Deborah Alston Wroblewski

I Heard it on the Wind 119

Nancy A. Shobe

Two Roads Diverged 121

Shauna Potocky

Unknowing 124

KM Bellavita

Befriend the Unknown 126

Juliana Lightle

I Want to Write 127

Jayne Benjulian

Permanence 128

Julene Tripp Weaver

The Gift to be a Writer 130

Amanda Sue Creasey

Airborne 132

Lisa Rizzo

Practice in Pandemic 133

Patricia Smith

Reimagining Schools 135

Alenka Vrecek

Time Passage 139

Amy Elizabeth Davis

Quarantine Mind 145

Julene Tripp Weaver

Please Remember 147

Kathleen Roxby

The End Came 149

Rhonda Seiter

Haiku 150

Deborah Alston Wroblewski

What If 151

Barbara Rockman

There was pause 152

About the Authors 155