What Rough Beast | Covid-19 Edition | 04 22 20 | JoHannah Ash

JoHannah Ash
The Rites of Spring

The priests sanitize now:
The peace is passed sans human touch,

the fonts of holy water have finally been drained,
and you can get your last rites by telephone.

Last night I was startled by a procession of people —

draped in capes, carrying the crucifix, clutching candles, possibly crying

— It had been days since I’d seen people out at night.

All I know now is this:
somehow, despite it all, the daffodils are blooming once again.
They will bloom again, and again, and again.

JoHannah Ash is a copywriter living in Pawtucket, Rhode Island with her husband and son. She received the Editor’s Prize in poetry for a poem in FOLIO, the literary journal of American University in Washington, DC, judged by Kyle Dargan. She holds a BA from Roger Williams University, in Bristol, Rhode Island.

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