General Common Room

WHR August 2020

General Common Room

Alexey Karetnikov

My name is Alexey Karetnikov. I am a virologist from Toronto, Canada. I have recently started writing haiku about viruses, to reflect on the subject of my research, and to educate the general public about virology, which is especially important now, during the ongoing pandemic of SARS-CoV-2. However, it is also very important that people do not forget about the world of viruses (both pathogenic and non-pathogenic for humans) even between pandemics.

In my haiku, I mention characteristic features of individual virus species or of certain taxonomic groups of viruses. I do realize that the general audience may not be familiar with some of these features. In the future, if I have enough material, I would like to publish a small compilation of virology haiku as a small book. Due to specific virological characteristics included in many of these haiku, in that book I would accompany each haiku with a short explanatory text where needed.

SARS-CoV-2 (i):

With a protein coat on your RNA

And a crown.

You taught us a lesson. Will we forget?

SARS-CoV-2 (ii):

With subgenomic RNAs.

Unprecedented

Is the race to make a vaccine.

SARS-CoV-2 (iii):

Proofreading to reduce mistakes.

Will you get milder,

Like your other four sisters?

Deceptively simple,

Viruses

Keep replicating.

Not only pathogens.

Everywhere.

Viruses. (Don’t) be afraid.

Evidence found lacking?

Do reflect.

Never publish in rush.

Tobacco mosaic virus:

Grams of RNA per litre of juice.

Pioneer.

Not a poison, and not just a protein!

HIV-1:

Reverse transcriptase with many mistakes.

Killed millions.

Will we have a vaccine?

Smallpox virus:

Two freezers are your last resorts.

Eradicated.

Please never come back.

Influenza virus:

RNA virus

With nuclear replication.

Changes every year.

Baseball Haiku

Stephen S. Power

the coach pats his sleeve

the runners tense

a deer lifts its head

gravediggers

curve in the dirt

batter lunging

the crowd roars

every flag snaps

to attention

heartbeats

bat slowly bouncing

above the hitter's shoulder

sunrise

the groundskeeper uncovers

the mound

throwing with mom

in the backyard

roses blooming

behind the backstop

three little boys watch BP

sunflowers bobbing

extra innings

jackets forgotten

delightful shivers

off day

the dirt settles

the grass sways

doubleheader

her cheek

on my shoulder

A Visit to Colorado

Gonzalo Adolfo

a morning stroll along Boulder Creek

trout in a pebbled

water paradise, no words

sing like Boulder Creek

fly fish me that,

girl in a white bikini

catching and releasing

basking in the fresh

mountain stream air, chilling

deer unfazed and scoping

nature upstaged by nature

itself, pretty young

gal in a black bikini

elegant on a rock

over a still pond, gray

heron on a photoshoot

an afternoon in Nederland

like a ravenous lion,

calm stream roars over rocky

falls into the reservoir

forested mountain beauty at

mile and a half altitude,

breathtaking in the breathless

an evening in Boulder

spooning on the stovetop

with a kettle, yellow tabby

dish of the day

a mute bark with

no bite, like clockwork an

evening of dry lightning

Silence

Željko Funda

haibunnies

1.

silence

on the empty vase

roses blooming

Silence is what follows hush.

2.

silence

a petal on the keyboard

silence

My grannie can hear music even when it's quiet. Perhaps it's because she can hear bad.

3.

a shell

full of

silence

Silence is when everybody plays mute.

4.

silence

the shadows of the clouds floating

across the sea

Dogs wonder about silence most. That's why they bark.

5.

silence

he and she smoking

their cigarettes

I am affected by silence in my fear.

6.

meadow

a butterfly zigzagging

through silence

"Silence is nicest when it's broken," says grannie. "Yes, with a picture," says grandpa.

7.

daybreak

silence bathing

in the sea

Silence is needed by musicians most.

8.

truce

silence connecting

trenches

Silence is horrible because dead people live in it.

9.

forest

leaves falling

through silence

My ears hurt because of silence. I get focused to hear something, and nothing shows up.

10.

funeral over

silence and wreaths

covering the grave

Grannie says silence covers everything up, grandpa says it wraps everything around, mom says it fills everything up. I know silence doesn't do anything but I won't tell anybody because I don't want them to have bad feelings.

Covid Haiku

Gerard Sarnat

i. Hammer And Dance [2]

Yes, as through this world I've wandered

I've seen lots of funny men;

Some will rob you with a six-gun,

And some with a fountain pen.

And as through your life you travel,

Yes, as through your life you roam,

You won't never see an outlaw

Drive a family from their home.

— Woody Guthrie, Pretty Boy Floyd

Metropolitan

lockdown number twenty-eight,

folks told to stay home

this time not because

of Coronavirus but

after Floyd violence.

ii. Shortage Swing-Shuffle [3]

Poor folks suffer slow

death fast-food obesity

then diabetes

worried Big Pharma

will once again be tempted

to jack-up prices

hackers hustle to

grind out hard, soft then wetware

home-grown insulin.

iii. Just Ask Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (1207-1273) [3]

Curfew earlyed up,

jackboots on firebrands’ necks,

what can word artists

do about menace

of unmarked police state thugs

pummeling citizens?

Here are our new rules:

break your wineglass & fall toward

the glassblower’s breath.

iv. i’m Down With This [3]

In an effort to

promote Black voices, our press

is open for free

submissions for Black

writers in all genres for

the rest of the year.

We’ll compensate for

loss of revenue, charging

you old white men more.”

v. Cabin Fever

Us old people put

into COVID solitude

— how do you deal now?

vi. COVID New Reality #3648 [2]

Grandchild lives few min

away as crow flies, but could

just as well be in

Israel where Savta*

also watches him learn to

walk and talk on screen.

*grandmother in Hebrew.

vii. Humanity haiku [2]

We are a hard crowd.

More New Yorkers dead today

than ever before

but our attention’s

moved to infinite other

dire COVID worries.

viii Jewish Mama haiku [3]

Time of Corona,

it is way better to be

safer than sorry.

Please make sure you have

Instacarted plenty of

prune juice, your Colace

bottle’s full because

Matzoh’s quite constipating.

Happy Passover!

ix. Imaginarium

How do I want to

be during last breaths before

it’s now time to die?

x. Surrender

You have the courage

to stand up to life well as

wisdom to stand down