Processing through Art - Life in a Pandemic

In the slowness of these different days, I’ve learned my ability to interact with art elevates even dark moments with flashes of higher meaning.

I don’t think people want more content to lift their spirits – they want beauty. The human spirit craves art in dark times because it helps us feel our emotions, process, and raise the vibe.

So here is an offering of poetry, a few verses for our strange new days.

Persistence from the Hearth: Spring in the Time of Pandemic

From the comfort of my kitchen,
window open above the sink
to capture the warm April day
in which I have lately planted
marigold seeds in ancient pots,
everything seems almost normal.

My husband is barely working,
furloughed some days and home early
the rest, but there is a dinner
we could not have shared if things were
normal, so I mix a meatloaf
to busy big band notes and smile.

The golden flower seeds will sprout
and I have to believe we will
be here to water them in June
because the alternative is
not to be considered while I
chop the onions for tonight’s meal.

The news is fear and handwashing
and I watch just enough to know
to Lysol my husband’s shoes when
he comes home from the airport, and
then I switch to swinging music
played when everything was normal.

White plates on blue mats in the light
arranged in shafts from the windows
that face west, I hear children at
a social distance, laughing like
the day is normal, and they give
me permission to welcome joy.

- Elizabeth S. Eiler


Elizabeth S. Eiler, Ph.D. is an eclectic writer and the published author of three books about spirituality and metaphysics. Her current works in progress are an epic fantasy novel and a poetry collection.

Singing Woman: Voices of the Sacred Feminine
Swift and Brave: Sacred Souls of Animals
Other Nations: A Lightworker's Case Book for Healing, Spiritually Empowering, and Communing with the Animal Kingdom