User login
I wrote these poems in mid-March, when fear of COVID-19 struck and New York City locked down. Nearly a half-year later, the impact continues with uncertainty everywhere.
Before and After
Before – there were trees,
I hardly noticed them.
There were buses and newspapers.
Should I read a book or the Post?
Am I wasting time looking
out the window at crowds
milling into Central Park?
The tourists walk to Strawberry Fields,
and the bus turns to Central Park West.
I hardly noticed
because I had plans.
After – it ended, first slowly,
then abruptly. We sat together
in the shop, knitting,
only three of us
before the store shut.
After that –
In the park daffodils radiate gold
and grow in groups.
And the magnolia trees
flaunt their succulent petals.
The fragile cherry blossoms float flowers
Still – it is after
And before, there were trees
I hardly noticed.
War Means Nothing to Them
The birds and the trees know nothing.
They are not embarrassed.
The birds chirp, the trees flower;
War means nothing to them.
Grass grows thick and green,
welcomes the spring.
Babies too, even toddlers,
go about their infant business.
They play or coo or smile
as happy as the birds, the trees,
the grass, flush with life.
Dr. Cohen is in private practice and is a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical Center of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and psychiatric consultant at the Hospital for Special Surgery, also in New York.
I wrote these poems in mid-March, when fear of COVID-19 struck and New York City locked down. Nearly a half-year later, the impact continues with uncertainty everywhere.
Before and After
Before – there were trees,
I hardly noticed them.
There were buses and newspapers.
Should I read a book or the Post?
Am I wasting time looking
out the window at crowds
milling into Central Park?
The tourists walk to Strawberry Fields,
and the bus turns to Central Park West.
I hardly noticed
because I had plans.
After – it ended, first slowly,
then abruptly. We sat together
in the shop, knitting,
only three of us
before the store shut.
After that –
In the park daffodils radiate gold
and grow in groups.
And the magnolia trees
flaunt their succulent petals.
The fragile cherry blossoms float flowers
Still – it is after
And before, there were trees
I hardly noticed.
War Means Nothing to Them
The birds and the trees know nothing.
They are not embarrassed.
The birds chirp, the trees flower;
War means nothing to them.
Grass grows thick and green,
welcomes the spring.
Babies too, even toddlers,
go about their infant business.
They play or coo or smile
as happy as the birds, the trees,
the grass, flush with life.
Dr. Cohen is in private practice and is a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical Center of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and psychiatric consultant at the Hospital for Special Surgery, also in New York.
I wrote these poems in mid-March, when fear of COVID-19 struck and New York City locked down. Nearly a half-year later, the impact continues with uncertainty everywhere.
Before and After
Before – there were trees,
I hardly noticed them.
There were buses and newspapers.
Should I read a book or the Post?
Am I wasting time looking
out the window at crowds
milling into Central Park?
The tourists walk to Strawberry Fields,
and the bus turns to Central Park West.
I hardly noticed
because I had plans.
After – it ended, first slowly,
then abruptly. We sat together
in the shop, knitting,
only three of us
before the store shut.
After that –
In the park daffodils radiate gold
and grow in groups.
And the magnolia trees
flaunt their succulent petals.
The fragile cherry blossoms float flowers
Still – it is after
And before, there were trees
I hardly noticed.
War Means Nothing to Them
The birds and the trees know nothing.
They are not embarrassed.
The birds chirp, the trees flower;
War means nothing to them.
Grass grows thick and green,
welcomes the spring.
Babies too, even toddlers,
go about their infant business.
They play or coo or smile
as happy as the birds, the trees,
the grass, flush with life.
Dr. Cohen is in private practice and is a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical Center of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and psychiatric consultant at the Hospital for Special Surgery, also in New York.