Embedded Files
WHR Autumn 2020
General Common Room (GCR)
General Common Room (GCR)
By 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 By Stephen S. Power
BASEBALL HAIKU
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
by 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
*
By Željko Funda
SILENCE
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.
By Gerard Sarnat
COVID HAIKU [10]
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.
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