4/6/2021

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            I got a smile out of your friend, the Easter Bunny & his big mask on the balcony of the WH yesterday. It’s too bad that some folks were offended by that.  It’s fascinating how we imbue certain objects with so much significance. A theory called, “figured worlds,” places importance on such things, especially in educational settings. According to that theory, the mask has become a cultural artifact which enable people to position themselves in the cultural milieu. Who knew in 2019 that the surgical mask would become an indicator of one’s political preferences?

            Do you like poetry? I am ambivalent.  My book club has decided to share poems for our April meeting. As someone who rarely reads them, I find this somewhat daunting. But as usual the magic of synchronicity struck this AM & I happened upon an article in the WP about a Twitter poem written by Charlottesville Mayor, Nikuyah Walker about her town. She’s tired of dealing with the veneer of perfection promulgated by the U.VA. profs to assuage their souls so she penned a poem to express her aggravation. Here it is:

“The beautiful-ugly it is. It rapes you, comforts you in its stained sheet and tells you to keep its secrets.”

 She’s gotten some heat for putting this out there, but as Margaret Renkl opines in the NYT poems “help us find the words our own tongues feel too swollen to speak.”

            Please invite Amanda Gorman to write a poem about the Easter Bunny & masks. I’d love to see what she comes up with.

            BYBS,