May 24, 2020 Mailing

Thoughts from the Free World

I've been sharing your notes and news about you with my friends. Everyone is thinking about you. – Kathryn

I'm thinking about you and have been for a while now. We were supposed to have a class together this semester, but by the time Otterbein students completed the orientation, we all had to stay home and move our class online. We were all so disappointed. I hope to be able to actually have the class with you when all of this is over. Most importantly, I hope you are ok despite all that is happening. – Bridget

I'm still thinking of you. I'm still wishing you resilience, safety, and peace. – Elise

I want you all to know that your past classmates are thinking of you and wishing you good health and the perseverance to get through this difficult time. -Raven

Quotations to Think About

““Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” -Nelson Mandela

“You may not always have a comfortable life. And you will not always be able to solve all the world’s problems all at once. But don’t ever underestimate the impact you can have, because history has shown us that courage can be contagious, and hope can take on a life of its own.” —Michelle Obama

"Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope." -MLK, Jr.

Today's poem is from 2017, written by Ohio's first poet laureate, Amit Majmudar. He's another doctor/poet (like William Carlos Williams), but he's writing today in central Ohio.

Virus

Neither video

Nor bacterium,

Doorknob-slobber droplet-

Borne mysterium,

Born of nothing, knowing

Only how to breed

Like some dandelion-clock-less

Dandelion seed,

Protean protein,

Hijacker, safe-cracker,

Magical papyrus-

Scrap of genome

Sealed with a cork

To sail the maelstrom,

Mimetic malice,

Code and chalice,

Yours the message

All the Muses sing:

Purity of heart

Is to will one thing