Richard Harteis

Pandemie Richard Harteis

In an earlier publication, PLAGUE POEMS: 2020 Vision, Richard Harteis has created poems which rely on careful observation, compassion, and all the poetic techniques the poet has mastered in a life-long pursuit of the art form. PLAGUE POEMS takes as its inspiration the philosophy of Albert Camus and uses the liturgical calendar as a framework for the spiritual quandary the pandemic has thrown the world into. The poems often tease the former president and his followers for the inane political solutions they offer. The poems try to come to terms with the new burdens brought by the pandemic: masks, social distancing, shortages, less-than-truthful politicians and scientists, loneliness, fear, sexual frustration and the sad irony of putting all this in the context of a beautiful spring with creatures not knowing the world has changed. The poems are often humorous, if, per necessity, relying on black humor. The collection ends with a final image of hope and resurrection, and honors those who have lost the battle with life in 2020. PANDEMIE adds a new chapter to the story as we begin to turn the corner on the pandemic and the world comes alive again. Tom Veys' translations deftly bring the poems to European lovers of poetry and also include exquisite linoleum-cut etchings of the American flag, fractured to pieces like a Jimi Hendrix rendition of the American national anthem, an apt metaphor for the current political divisions in the United States. PANDEMIE is an important record of this moment in human history, a lyric account fueled by love and compassion.