Waiting for a Little Gidding Voice in the Pandemic

And next year’s words await another voice,
the poet says in “Little Gidding,”
because the others make a different choice,
and think you’re stupid or you’re kidding.

The fact that you’ve survived does not persuade
the people who don’t trust what you believe
to be the “I’m not kidding truth” makes you dismayed,
and not just disagree with them, but grieve.

The pandemic makes them panic while they pay
attention to opinions that aren’t worth
the time it takes to hear them, and well may
infect their own survival with its dearth.

About the Author

Gershon Hepner is a poet who has written over 25,000 poems on subjects ranging from music to literature, politics to Torah. He grew up in England and moved to Los Angeles in 1976. Using his varied interests and experiences, he has authored dozens of papers in medical and academic journals, and authored "Legal Friction: Law, Narrative, and Identity Politics in Biblical Israel." He can be reached at gershonhepner@gmail.com.