Verses vs. Coronavirus: What These Poets Laureate Are Thankful For – The New York Times

And in Minnesota, Joyce Sutphen gave thanks for

snow that comes down from Canadacovering the leaves we didnt rakeand how sometimes after that, weget a heat wave and a second chanceto put things right in the world

Not all states responded. The New York Times request came with some prosaic conditions 100 words or less on a newspaper deadline, a tall order for an exacting art form. Some states have no poet laureate. New Jersey abolished the post in 2003 amid controversy, and Idaho replaced it in the 1980s with a broader writer-in-residence appointment. The last full-time poet to hold that job, Diane Raptosh, who has also served as poet laureate of Boise, offered that states poem.

Still other states were between poets. In California, Mr. Gioias term ended in 2018 and the governor has yet to appoint a successor. Illinois had been without an official poet since 2017; we received submissions from its last laureate and the poet who succeeded him on Wednesday.

But the many writers who did respond reflected a widespread, if weary, appreciation, both for regional grit and more universal blessings. Many wrote, in these socially distanced times, of the humanity and fellowship around them.

Hawaiis poet was grateful for tight-knit island communities, Wyomings for neighbor helping neighbor / despite long distances, and Alabamas for a state where people rally to help each other out in times of crisis.

And North Carolinas for North Carolinians and the many ways we have gathered together to take care of each other. And South Dakotas for food, resources, / each other love and fears first real test. And Oklahomas for the after-tornado swarm of helping strangers / for those who smell of oil, of diesel, of dirt, of sweat.

Paisley Rekdal of Utah wrote of something unusual: crowds in the canyons. Bobby LeFebre of Colorado reached out on social media to crowdsource that states thanks for love, familia, health, work, creator, community, cultura / resilience, art, abolitionists, education, imagination, clarity / life, truth, weed, and much more.

Beth Ann Fennelly of Mississippi was grateful to be counted on: One Mississippi, Two. Grateful for the word yall. Grateful for the emphatic all yall.

See original here:

Verses vs. Coronavirus: What These Poets Laureate Are Thankful For - The New York Times