In 2020, poetry entrepreneur Lisa Ann Markuson a.k.a. LA Marks launched the timely, big-hearted project Poems for a World on Pause in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. The concept was simple: People struggling with COVID-19 could request a personalized poem addressing their individual feelings of fear, loss, and hopelessness by filling out an online form. As one of the participating writers, I ended up creating a whole series of dizaines (a French form akin to the sonnet) which I emailed, one by one, to fellow humans everywhere from Abu Dhabi to Brisbane. The poem below had a second life in the book 2020: an anthology of poetry with drawings by Bill Liebeskind (Black Dog & One-Eyed Press) then a third life earlier this week as "Dispatch #092" on the website Dispatches from Quarantine.
Capital Philosophy
I forget when Reality became
a genre, ‘though I do recall when Lies
were recast as Alt Facts. As for what’s Sane
that’s always been up for debate. I tried
but failed to find Logic in Wittgenstein.
I do better with Nietzsche, Plato, Sartre,
Schopenhauer, Marx, Arendt, and Descartes…
Yet none of them make our Universe clear
as I panic-shop in the minimart.
When the Truth’s up for sale, the cost is dear.
First published in 2020 (November 2021). Republished in Dispatches from Quarantine (April 21, 2023)