Dear Vaccine

Global Voices Speak to the Pandemic

Naomi Shihab Nye, David Hassler, Tyler Meier, Naomi Shihab Nye, David Hassler, Tyler Meier

• Publisher: The Kent State University Press
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781631014819
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Poetry
• Index: Literature

People from around the world reflect on the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine through poetry

When so much in our lives ground to a halt in the spring of 2020, no one knew how long the COVID-19 pandemic would last. After long months of shutdowns, social distancing, and worry, the first coronavirus vaccines were released in December 2020.

In March 2021, the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University and the University of Arizona Poetry Center launched the website for the Global Vaccine Poem project, inviting anyone to share experiences of the pandemic and vaccination through poetry. Dear Vaccine features selections from over 2, 000 poetry submissions to the project, which come from all 50 states and 118 different countries.

Internationally acclaimed author Naomi Shihab Nye, in her introduction, highlights the human dimensions found across the responses. Richard Carmona, the 17th Surgeon General of the United States, provides a foreword that contextualizes the global scope of the problem, as well as the political and public health dimensions.

Making use of poetry's powerful tools to connect us across division, Dear Vaccine reminds us that medical advances alone are not enough to solve the vexing challenges of the pandemic; the arts—and poetry—have a profound and critical role to play.

Notes on the Contributors

Muna Agwa is a rising junior at Hathaway Brown School in Cleveland, Ohio. She enjoys reading and writing, swimming, problem-solving, and learning new things. She hopes that one day people can overcome their differences through art and empathy. Muna aspires to be a surgeon one day, although she hopes to never stop writing.

Denise Alden lives and writes in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. She’s worked in healthcare and owned a small business, and now she cares for her family and her writing. She especially loves and is grateful for the poetry of Jericho Brown and Derrick Austin. Some of her work can be found at Scalawag Magazine and Holy Flea Dream Journal.

Lahab Assef Al-Jundi lives in San Antonio, Texas, and his poetry has appeared in collections such as In These Latitudes, Ten Contemporary Poets, and Inclined to Speak: An Anthology of Arab American Poetry, as well as many other anthologies and literary journals. His latest poetry collection, No Faith at All, was published by Pecan Grove Press. A new collection is forthcoming in early 2022 from Kelsay Books titled This Is It.

Lynda Allen considers herself a life in progress and a listener. She lives with her husband in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where she writes poetry and fiction, paints, makes jewelry, and communes with her beloved Rappahannock River. During the pandemic, the natural world has been a saving grace for Lynda, where she found she could embrace nature and all its beauty even if she couldn’t embrace her human friends.

As a high school English teacher, Arizona resident Teresa Anthofer tells her students that our writing makes us vulnerable—and because that vulnerability reveals our true selves and creates something meaningful, Teresa enjoys writing alongside her students. In addition to iambic pentameter lessons that involve intense gestures, Teresa celebrates poetry in the classroom with the weekly tradition of Haikusday. She and her husband enjoy dining at Indian restaurants and supporting local theatre, activities they plan to do much more of once their young children are able to get vaccinated. Two of her favorite words are juxtapose and discombobulate, and she has resolved to never again use the word unprecedented.

Samantha Antoine is a two-time alum of Kent State University. She currently works at the University of Michigan in an international and multigenerational community of graduate students and their families. She is passionate about access and equity in higher education. Samantha lives in Ann Arbor with her family.

Cindy Danes Bailey is a retired RN living in Hilliard, Ohio. She worked in family practice, a nursing home facility, and in a sheltered workshop for adults with developmental disabilities. Presently she is on standby for anything her children or grandchildren need.

Dr. Radhika Balu is a general practitioner who lives and works in Harrow, London. She has worked as a family medicine practitioner for 15 years. During the pandemic, she has primarily worked in the COVID-19 hub and vaccination centers. She believes that art plays a vital role in healing and poetry captures the emotions of a soul—the anguish, joy, and relief. She enjoys trekking, dancing, and spending time with her family.

Kami Bates (she/her/hers) is from Olympia, Washington, majored in English at Pepperdine University, and has lived in Tucson, Arizona, since April 2020. She studies speech language pathology at the University of Arizona and will graduate with her master’s degree in May 2022. She has two “pandemic pets,” a pit bull–husky mix named Misty and a black cat called Jiji. The best part of the pandemic has been getting to spend so much time with Kersti, her amazing fiancée, and they can’t wait to get married in June 2022! Kami loves writing, the Enneagram, staying hydrated, dancing, watching TV with subtitles, and being queer.

Dorothy Beavington lives in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. She is a retired social worker and journalist who enjoys dancing and reading. Her greatest accomplishments were raising four amazing sons and raising over $50,000 at her birthday parties for children and famine relief in developing countries. She fell in love with poetry as a child, and her son, Lee, is a respected poet who is working on his first poetry book. Dorothy survived the pandemic by the side of her sweet and funny husband, Robert, who cracked her up daily with his humor and kept her sane.

Linda C. Belans is a poet, dancer, and author of States of Being: Leadership Coaching for Equitable Schools. She was first awakened to poetry about 30 years ago when her friend Shirley handed her a copy of Words Under the Words by Naomi Shihab Nye. Linda lives in Durham, North Carolina, where she grandparents six children with her partner, Jim Lee.

Margo Berdeshevsky lives in Paris, France. Her latest collection, Before the Drought (Glass Lyre Press), was a finalist for the National Poetry Series. She has two books forthcoming: It Is Still Beautiful to Hear the Heart Beat (Salmon Poetry, in Ireland) and Kneel Said the Night (A Hybrid Book in Half-Notes) (Sundress Publications). She is also the author of Between Soul & Stone, But a Passage in Wilderness (Sheep Meadow Press) and Beautiful Soon Enough, recipient of FC2’s Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Award. Her love for poetry began in a first career in New York theater. She later lived in the Hawaiian Islands at the edge of the rainforest for 20 years and taught there as a poet in the schools. Pandemic life forced an embrace of solitude and silences the poet requires but may lose en route to publication. For more information, please visit http://margoberdeshevsky.com.

Vivian Blatnik was adopted in China as a baby and raised in Kent, Ohio. She is a sophomore at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Kent. She enjoys spending time with her family and pets. She is open to trying new things, most recently karate, whitewater rafting, and softball. She has been involved in the visual arts in Art in the Park, a citywide arts festival, taking first place twice in the youth competition. This is her first published poem.

Sally Bliumis-Dunn teaches modern poetry at Manhattanville College and the Palm Beach Poetry Festival. Her third full-length collection, Echolocation, published by Plume Editions/Madhat Press in March 2018, was on the long list for the Julie Suk Award and a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award. In 2002, she was a finalist for the Nimrod and Hard-man’s Pablo Neruda Prize. She just became a grandmother and lives in Armonk, New York.

David J. Bodney has practiced media and constitutional law, based in Phoenix, Arizona, for over 40 years. For most of that time, he has taught media law as adjunct faculty at Arizona State University. He briefly served as a newspaper editor, where he wrote a weekly column. Married with three grown children, David is a member of the Upaya Zen Center, which awakened a love of haiku. In his professional life, he fights for open government and First Amendment freedoms.

Marie Boucher is an English professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, who organizes an annual Poetry Week at the institute and contributes regularly to literary journals, open mics, and Wednesday Night Poetry. She has recently enjoyed workshops with Danusha Laméris, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Nickole Brown. She loves spending time with trees, conducting watershed education, and composing poetry during these ongoing pandemic times.

Bill Bradley Senator William W. Bradley, 78, is a managing director of Allen & Company LLC. From 2001 to 2004, he acted as chief outside advisor to McKinsey & Company’s nonprofit practice. He was a senior advisor and vice chairman of the International Council of JP Morgan & Co., Inc., from 1997 to 1999. During that time, he also worked as an essayist for CBS Evening News and was a visiting professor at Stanford University, University of Notre Dame, and the University of Maryland. Senator Bradley served in the US Senate from 1979 to 1997 representing the state of New Jersey. In 2000, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. Prior to serving in the Senate, he was an Olympic gold medalist in 1964 and a professional basketball player with the New York Knicks from 1967 to 1977, during which time they won two NBA championships. In 1982, he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Senator Bradley holds a BA degree in American history from Princeton University and an MA degree from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He has authored seven books on American politics, culture, and economy, including his latest book, We Can All Do Better. Currently, Senator Bradley hosts American Voices, a weekly show on Sirius XM Satellite Radio that highlights the remarkable accomplishments of Americans both famous and unknown. He currently lives in New York City, New York.

Jenny Browne was the 2017–18 Poet Laureate of Texas. She lives in downtown San Antonio and teaches at Trinity University. She grows beans and drinks coffee. She spent much of the pandemic taking long walks with her now quite large COVID-19 puppy, a spotted Texas heeler mutt named Belfast.

Jade Busca is a young woman who lives in Marseille, France, with her fiancée. She is in her fourth year of medical studies and dreams to become a pediatric surgeon. She is also very attracted by social sciences and medical ethics, and she recently obtained a master’s degree combining these fields. She has always been interested in poetry and wrote tiny poems in her diary when she was a little girl. This is her first published poem.

Sophia Caparisos is a retired English teacher living in Savannah, Georgia, whose love of reading poetry is surpassed only by discussing or teaching it. After watching her spend half a lifetime (part of every day for 34 years) sitting at the kitchen table grading papers and annotating texts, Sophia’s daughter opted to become a teacher, too. Sophia considers this an important tribute to the profession and a boon to future students. These days, Sophia’s favorite future students are her three preschool grandchildren.

Mary Ellen Chown is an educator living in Oakville, Ontario, and is the mother of three grown children. She has been a feminist advocate for change in the Catholic Church for over 20 years. She loves to gather round a table with family and friends and to enjoy the gifts of the seasons: a hike in autumn’s color, cross country skiing in a winter forest, tending perennials in spring, and jumping into a brisk summer lake. Poetry is the place she goes to pause and reflect. Her first collection of poetry and art, grace drifts in, was published in December 2021.

Sonnet Kekilia Coggins lives on the island of Maui, Hawaii, with her husband and two young sons. She directs the Merwin Conservancy, which furthers the legacy of poet, ecologist, and activist W. S. Merwin. During the pandemic, she was grateful for the invitation, disguised though it was, to feel the pulse, rhythms, and cries of her island home.

Brendan Constantine is a poet based in Los Angeles, California. His work has appeared in many of the nation’s standards, including Poetry, Tin House, Best American Poetry, Poetry Daily, and Poem-a-Day. A popular performer, Brendan has presented his work to audiences throughout the United States and Europe, also appearing on NPR’s All Things Considered, TED ED, numerous podcasts, and YouTube. He currently teaches at the Windward School and, since 2017, has been developing poetry workshops for people with aphasia.

Fabio Corsini, PhD, is professor and coordinator of the CCI Communication Program at Kent State University Florence Center. He lives in Rome, teaching different communication and media classes. When he is not in class, he is probably watching a movie or an episode of a TV show. He likes poetry and its capability of empowering people and bringing beauty and meaning into people’s lives.

James Crews is a poet and editor living with his husband in Shaftsbury, Vermont. He has taught creative writing for over 15 years and has edited several anthologies including How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope. Coffee, long hikes, and keeping a daily kindness journal have helped him to survive the pandemic.

Marc A. Crowley is a retired teacher who lives in Cochise County in rural southeastern Arizona. He taught American History and Government and was the founder of the Mock Trial Program at the high school where he taught. He has traveled extensively in the western United States, and his poetry has been about life’s transitions, spirituality, and his environment from oceans to the borderlands where he now lives. He has been writing poetry since 1968 and has had a few poems published over the years. He is currently compiling his first book of poetry.

Alison Hawthorne Deming is a poet and essayist who lives in Tucson, Arizona, and Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, Canada. She is professor emerita at the University of Arizona. Her most recent book is A Woven World. She is the author of five poetry collections with a new book, The Excavations, near completion. She likes to garden, play piano, and play with her goldendoodle.

Sean Parker Dennison is a painter, poet, partner, parent, and Unitarian Universalist minister who lives in Medford, Oregon.

Todd Diacon lives in Kent, Ohio, and serves as president of Kent State University. He is a firm believer in the power of poetry to explore the human condition. As a child he watched his father, a small-town physician, participate in polio vaccination events, and he appreciates all that is being done to keep people safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joanne Feenstra lives with her amazing partner and two more-orless-amazing-most-of-the-time dogs, in very rural British Columbia, Canada, where, after a career of working with marginalized individuals in suburban British Columbia, Joanne and her partner followed their amazing children and grandchildren and moved to the West Kootenays. She is learning to be retired, to let go of things that don’t bring joy or peace or gratefulness. She is learning to be doglike and “chase sticks” instead of folding socks.

Silke Feltz is an assistant teaching professor who teaches English composition at the University of Oklahoma. Originally from Germany and now residing in Norman, Oklahoma, Silke enjoys writing poetry and directs StreetKnits, a humanitarian knitting charity that knits for the unhoused. Life has been challenging for everybody during the pandemic, and poetry gives her hope that we will eventually find our way back to one another.

Meg Files is a retired community college teacher in Tucson, Arizona. She is the author of several books of fiction and poetry as well as a book about taking risks in writing. She directs the Tucson Festival of Books Masters Workshop. During the pandemic, she has taught virtual writing workshops and classes and read more books than ever. One day, she might once again enjoy scuba diving.

Naomi Foyle is a British-Canadian writer, educator, and activist. The author of three poetry collections and five science fiction novels, including the eco-SF quartet The Gaia Chronicles, she lives in Brighton, United Kingdom, and teaches creative writing at the University of Chichester. She enjoys wild swimming, hiking, cycling, photography, traveling, and exercising her right to protest. A supporter of a just peace in Israel-Palestine, she has visited the Middle East often, volunteering on eco-projects and hosting poetry readings. She has read her own work in the United Kingdom, Europe, North America, South Korea, and Iraq.

Candace Frede lives in the West Village of Manhattan, New York. She has been drawn to poetry since childhood. She recently retired from a career in digital design and information technology. During quarantine, the outlines of life were a small apartment with two cats and a neighborhood with a temporary morgue. The Hudson River Promenade on a good day—a day without crowds—was one place to breathe fresh air mask-free. A treasured community spot was closed. Her poem here is about that place.

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Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Editors’ Note
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Dear Vaccine
• Lessons—What We Learned While Alone
• Gratitude—Only as Lovely as You Are Shared
• Grief—That Breath Could Bring Us Death
• The Clinic—The Place We Met and Loved Each Other
• Nostalgia—Every Day a Meditation in Remembering
• Envisioning the Future—Believing We Belong to the Same Beauty
• Afterword
• Notes on the Contributors