{"id":1507,"date":"2020-07-02T11:57:20","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T15:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/?p=1507"},"modified":"2020-07-02T14:29:08","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T18:29:08","slug":"today-i-remember-to-wash-my-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/today-i-remember-to-wash-my-hands\/","title":{"rendered":"Today I Remember to Wash My Hands"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One of my favorite poems, “Naming of Parts”, \u00a0is about a new recruit learning about his weapon while his mind wonders to the beauty of nature around him.\u00a0He keeps being brought back to the weapon of death but his heart and mind are full of life.\u00a0That\u2019s kind of how this Covid 19 crisis feels to me. Here is my rewrite\u00a0 of the original. (the original follows)<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cKeeping Us Safe\u201d<\/strong>
\nToday I remember to wash my hands. Yesterday,
\nwe disinfected our doorknobs. And tomorrow morning,
\nwe will remember to wear our masks. But to-day,
\nToday I remember to wash my hands. Azaleas.
\nShyly open their petals in the garden by my front door.
\nAnd today I remember to wash my hands.<\/p>\n

And this is my N95 mask. And this
\nis my hand sanitizer, whose use you will see,
\nWhen you touch things. And this is a PPE
\nWhich in our case we have not got.\u00a0 The breeze
\nWafts gently through the mottled leaves
\nWhich in our case we have not got.<\/p>\n

This is distance, which I will always stand from you
\nAn easy calculation. And please do not let me
\nSee anyone coming closer than six feet. You can do it quite easily
\nIf you have any strength of will. Birds overhead
\nGlide in widening arcs, never coming
\ncloser to us than six feet.<\/p>\n

And this you can see is me washing my hands. The purpose
\nIs to kill the virus so it does not spread. We scrub
\nRapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
\nWashing our hands. And rapidly backwards and forwards
\nThe bees flit among the early blooms scattering pollen:
\nWe call it washing our hands.<\/p>\n

They call it keeping us safe. It is perfectly easy
\nIf you wash your hands and wear a mask, standing six feet apart.
\nThese are the things that will help keep us safe: and the sun warms our skin
\nIn the gardens of early blooms and bees flitting by,
\nWhich in our case will keep us safe.
\nFor today I will remember to wash my hands.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

the poem that inspired it:<\/p>\n

\u201cNaming of Parts\u201d<\/strong> by Henry Reed
\nToday we have naming of parts. Yesterday,
\nWe had daily cleaning. And tomorrow morning,
\nWe shall have what to do after firing. But to-day,
\nToday we have naming of parts. Japonica.
\nGlistens like coral in all of the neighbouring gardens,
\nAnd today we have naming of parts.<\/p>\n

This is the lower sling swivel. And this
\nIs the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see,
\nWhen you are given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,
\nWhich in your case you have not got. The branches
\nHold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,
\nWhich in our case we have not got.<\/p>\n

This is the safety-catch, which is always released
\nWith an easy flick of the thumb. And please do not let me
\nSee anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easy
\nIf you have any strength in your thumb. The blossoms
\nAre fragile and motionless, never letting anyone see
\nAny of them using their finger.<\/p>\n

And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this
\nIs to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it
\nRapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
\nEasing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
\nThe early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:
\nThey call it easing the Spring.<\/p>\n

They call it easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy
\nIf you have any strength in your thumb: like the bolt,
\nAnd the breech, and the cocking-piece, and the point of balance,
\nWhich in our case we have not got; and the almond-blossom
\nSilent in all of the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards,
\nFor today we have naming of parts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of my favorite poems, “Naming of Parts”, \u00a0is about a new recruit learning about his weapon while his mind wonders to the beauty of nature around him.\u00a0He keeps being brought back to the weapon of death but his heart and mind are full of life.\u00a0That\u2019s kind of how this Covid 19 crisis feels to … Continue reading Today I Remember to Wash My Hands<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[40],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1507"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1507"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1515,"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1507\/revisions\/1515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}