Becoming
Poems of Pandemic, Protest, Prayer, and More
by
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Protest, Pandemic, and More
“A year like no other,” I say
And in my lifetime, that’s probably true.
What escapes my view just now
Are the eons passed long before.
Imagine that when the poor dinosaurs
Met the large asteroid they could not avoid
They were more than slightly annoyed.
Yet it’s true as I said, though multiple
Mammals no longer exist, as cycles
Persist of extinction for many––
The viruses viral prevail––No avail
That we wish them away. No protest,
No demonstration, no election has automatic
Protection from pathogens novel
Without cooperation of all.
We cannot exempt ‘cause we’re tired,
Bored or broke; we mingle as ‘woke,’
(not sure what it means), though I’d claim
To have been wide awake over
Two-thirds of life. The strife that
Surrounds us should force us together
Not apart, for stranger or friend
We all share a common goal to survive
And thrive if we may, only open the way
For all peoples to flourish, be nourished
By every means.
My journal of poems is then a record
Of reflection on protest, pandemic
And more, presidential election, prayer,
People lost, selected, elected,
Past and present. Read along and remember.
What have we been, what will we become?
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About the Book
America and me. Both getting older,
But still becoming. Never perfect,
Always striving to become, to be
A better version of what you see.
You, beholder, may emphasize the flaws.
I ask you pause, focus on the aim,
What we desire to become; to be
Perfection is a goal, not a reality.
During 2020, the United States of America was ravaged not just by a global pandemic but also by mass protests and tense elections. As death haunted the year, one tragedy after the other hung over the land like a dark shadow.
In a collection of poems penned during this tumultuous time in history, Colleen Adele Kelly shares reflections that vividly explore the emotions that surrounded lockdown, fears, losses, and gains as a country struggled to endure through each challenge. Divided into six parts, Kelly’s poems lyrically detail the protests, seasons and prayer, the pandemic purge, the elections, and the resurgence of hope as the nation began its recovery from a novel virus and year.
Becoming shares poems that address the challenges of a century with heartfelt and incisive insight and elements of prayer and wit.
About the Author
Colleen Adele Kelly, PhD, is a retired educator of Asian and international studies and comparative education who taught in Fairfield and New Britain, Connecticut. She has used her time in retirement to indulge a lifelong attraction to hearing and seeing events in verse. Her experiences in travel and teaching inform what she writes.
Becoming is her sixth collection of poems. She maintains a poetry blog at www.colleenakelly.com.