The Pandemic
Prince
To sneeze or not to sneeze,
That is the question.
As ere I hide my fear
Of contagious congestion.
T’is the devil's work
of the sorriest sort,
Satanic signs attend,
He our wrath doth wrought.
Scullery maids scurry,
With no ken of mensa,
As they wash down the palace,
With ill smelling cleanser.
For naught would I chasten,
Or take them to task.
But I would give why kingdom,
For an N95 mask.
T'is a feeling that abounds,
Consequences so grave.
Distemper soars the kingdom,
To each foolish prattling knave.
Get thee indoors with haste,
Deprived sense elst insane.
Prithee hearken to my words,
For it is I, Hamlet the Dane.
Unbated and envenomed scourge,
Oft spreads its horrid hent.
As people ere bathe and lave,
None guilty to repent.
Where is my fair Opehlia?
Where is the lady of my loves?
My heart awaits with strings of steel.
For the coveted rubber gloves.
Oh that all may be well and calm.
To eject the hateful and bawdiest.
Ah, methinks the time has come,
Returnest to dust the odious Claudius!
But hark the couriers babble on,
Midst tales of scales of numbers.
Deport,report and stay thee home,
T'is no wish for any more slumbers.
Oh cursed havoc reaps its toll,
Defeat the canker in our midst.
To shuttle off this mortal coil,
Wrack and climb off the abyss.
Heralds and tribunes sound the words,
T'is time to begone the menace.
Joy and music in instances erupt,
Ere welcomes to Buffy and Dennis.
We deny our griefs with pleasure.
Gyms and pools open within hours.....
Life to lounges and intellects stage
Heralded back to North Shore Towers!
How are we all coping
during this crisis? For
starters, we suddenly
find time on our hands, time that
we often longed to have in better
days. Oh, to fix up the closets and
go through the drawers and do
general spring cleaning--what
lofty goals.
Now perhaps we can catch
up on our reading and finish
our books, and go through our of
style clothing without replenish-ing
the racks with new purchases.
Suddenly there are empty hangers
and a pile of shoulder-padded
polo shirts. Ay! There's the rub…
there's no shopping. Early with-drawal
hit me while going to get
gas for my car and passing by all
the closed shops.
Now here are experiences gar-nered
from some of my Women's
Club friends, all coping in their
own style.
A close friend of mine in the
club enjoys cooking. She has not
emerged from the kitchen in 18
days and has already gained 9
pounds according to her scale.
Food ordering is an activity
that has occupied one of our
members. She has become quite
adept at "Pea Pod" phoning, and
plans her calls for take-out at an
hour that she knows is lower
volume, often setting her alarm
clock to make sure of her order
is being taken at a favorable time.
Delivery is often not for several
weeks, but she has her menus
planned well in advance.
A brave soul in the club has
been venturing out a bit in the
arcade for some needed items.
She follows the safety rules and
always dresses in appropriate
garb. Her query to me was if
I thought she needed to wear
lipstick under her mask. That
remains an open question.
Revlon or Clinique?
I thought I would have a very
interesting conversation when
I asked one of our committee
members what she was busy
with. "I'm just looking at my
roots," she answered. I excited-ly
asked if she meant Brooklyn
or the Bronx, ready to have a
nostalgic conversation about
either borough. "My roots are
growing in so quickly I'll look
like a zebra soon," she stated in
an agitated voice. I'm sure she is
one of many who can't wait for
the hair salons to open.
One of my personal favorite
activities is called "Wenches
Sitting on Benches.” On any
given nice day there are people
walking on the golf course or
the parking lots doing their laps
six feet apart. Between wearing
devices, masks, windy condi-tions
and distance, conversation
is held to a minimum. That is
compensated for after the walk
is over, as the walkers retire to
the benches in the circle. The
sun drenched area has become
an afternoon magnet with two
people on a bench conversing
and enjoying the respite from
the solitude of their apartments.
Now we come to the latest in
highlights for holidays which
many of our members partic-ipated
in:-"Zooming." Many
2020
seders were conducted coast to
May ¢COURIER They roamed the halls ere unmasked,
And spread lethal dust in the palace,
Two gentlemen from Verona caught the corona,
TOWERS Turned out to be a real menace.
Took to bed when the virus spread,
And infected the Merchant of Venice.
Two gentlemen of Verona caught the corona,
SHORE Its venom wasn't finished yet,
Struck the two star cross'd lovers,
Sweet cursed Romeo and Juliet.
NORTH Willy's eternal words doth ring,
His soulful tales to tell.
Out with this sulfurous scourge,
18 Ah! All will be well that ends well! coast with absent family mem-bers
able to participate by using
the zoom app on their devices.
Squares of loved ones faces
filled our screens as we traded
stories, read the Hagaddahs, or
showed off new babies, etc. I
didn't even have a lot of dishes
to do afterwards.
Yours truly was able to keep
busy doing a little extra writing,
with my interest in Shakespeare
and Elizabethan vernacular. At
least it keeps me out of trouble......
Since all the activities of the
North Shore Towers Women's
Club have been temporarily
suspended, perhaps some
offbeat humor might be a wel-come
relief. Although we look
forward to resuming normal
programming in the future, we
are still perfecting the art of hand
washing. This activity is accom-panied
with masks, gloves, and
a new use of space. For example,
“elevatoring" has become a pro-cedural
occurrence, including
how to push the buttons with
elbows, gloves, pens, and other
tools of the trade. "Social dis-tance"
might have had a hand
in the decline of the birth rate;
however in today's definition, it
is a requirement of the new rules.
This historic moment impacts
on all levels, including discovering
past events in literature that might
suggest déjà vu. In Elizabethan
times, it is possible that
Shakespeare plays had already
experienced a similar pandemic.
If so, his tragedies performed at
the Globe Theater might have had
the following dialogues.
The Plays The Thing...
Two gentlemen from Verona caught the corona,
Took themselves to task,
Saved the lives of the Merry Wives,
By giving them supplies of masks.
Two gentlemen from Verona caught the corona,
They really had some issues.
Coughed and spit and had a fit,
When they both ran out of tissues.
Two gentlemen from Verona caught the corona
Acted like two silly fools,
They ventured out and walked about,
And never followed the rules.
Two gentlemen from Verona caught the corona,
Though they acted with no malice