Living in Coronavirusworld 38: This is not victory

4/30

Half mast in my neighborhood. But not the White House

I go to Wadleigh to pick up some food. Notice that the American flag in the school yard is at half mast to honor the dead.  But not in Washington, DC.  Not at the White House. The dead are an inconvenience for our President. His son in law and “senior advisor” Jared Kushner has announced “Victory.”  Jared, this is NOT a victory. There are UHaul trailers outside funeral  homes filled with rotting bodies. The death count rises. And Jared stands on the aircraft carrier with George W. Bush in his flight suit announcing “Mission Accomplished.” No, Jared, no victory.

I no longer want to hear the New Normal. It may be new, but this is NOT normal. And never should be. What we allowed to be normal put us in position for this to be a disaster. Tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths. No, this is not normal. An Op Ed in the Irish Times expresses, for the first time in history, pity for the US. Pity. No, Jared, no victory. 

Friends in Guatemala report new deportees from the US banned from entering their home towns. Houses being burned. My longtime  friend in Pittsburgh reports that one in five Pittsburgh residents are unemployed.  In the last five weeks, 1.65 million  have filed for unemployment benefits. He’s working round the clock to help them get their due.

I walk to Morningside Park.  As I sit meditating, I hear nearby, up the hill, a  solo saxophone player. Reminds me of  sitting in line waiting for tickets to Shakespeare  in the park.  (Not this summer..)The busker who for as long as I’ve lived here, plays his flute in the morning and sax in the afternoon while people wait for their free tickets. Occasionally going off into his random  social political rants. I sit in silence listening to these notes dance in the air.  

saxophone player on the hill

The Governor announces the subway will now be closed every night from 1 to 5 AM. 

Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.  As if there were not enough to worry about, Michael Moore released his new movie, the Planet of the Humans. (https://planetofthehumans.com/)    The bottom line is that the environmental movement has been essentially bought by capitalist corporations and most all of what we cheerfully believe to be renewable sustainable energy is at least as carbon consuming as coal, gas and oil. The much heralded biomass plants are devouring forests at a rate that cannot be replaced. Capitalism wins again. The point is, in Covid 19, Mother Nature has sent us a wake up call. Get your shit together, or it's over. My friend Steve Blane has recorded a cover of Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush, with a slight revision: Look at Mother Nature on the run in Two thousand Twenty…(https://soundcloud.com/steveblane)

It’s time for my first ZOOM concert, Lockdown Showcase #1.  Joined by my friends Joel and Carrie, of Hot Glue and the Gun (http://www.hotglueandthegun.com/) and my renaissanceman and lead guitar player Mike Handelman.(http://www.mikehandelman.com/) Together they make the musical magic for my Home (Away) Band. Tonight you might  say we’re Home (Home). At first I’m anxious, just like live shows, almost sure no one will show up. But as always, they do. Joel and Carrie do new songs responding to the virus. Mike plays a Russian folk song in a Django Reinhardt style and other pieces in the new laid back acoustic jazz genre he’s exploring these days. My whole set is responding to the virus, including some spoken word in Blowing the Wind…the answer my friends is not blowin' in the wind, the answer is in our own hands…and finish with my virus revised Don't roll that way. As the audience grew, my spirits raised.  I saw friend,s I sang some songs. By the time it was over, I felt as close to happy as possible. And I still miss singing harmony with friends. 

This is not a victory. And this is not normal.