As millions of people across the globe are doing, I have been pondering the implications and meanings of the covid-19 pandemic. Someone told me near the beginning about the possibility of the pangolin having a connection to the virus. At the time, I couldn’t even call to mind the appearance of a pangolin, but I knew I needed to do something creative with that knowledge.
And so I wrote a poem. And then I realized that this time I had to do more than share my poem in written form, I also needed to read it. That led to a project that caused me to produce a youtube video. I used drawings of pangolins for that video (as a slideshow), so I also wrote a poem for children, particularly so those who made drawings would be able to watch a video.
The poems can be heard by going to the following links:
For mature audiences: Consider the Pangolin.
For children: The Pangolin.
Written versions of these poems follow.
For mature audiences, who think abut COVID-19 and care deeply:
There have been stories surfacing that suggest pangolins are thought to be the transmission vector for the SARS-COV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. According to Wikipedia, the evidence is not at all conclusive. Maybe they were. Maybe many of these vulnerable creatures were killed because people thought they were. It matters not via which animal the virus was able to pass on to humans. What matters is what we do with the possibility that it was the pangolin.
Consider the Pangolin
My home has grown a repellent coating
My dog and I squeeze out the door for walks
But none may enter
My own body carries a forcefield
A six metre radius to keep others away
Save those in my own home
Social distancing, they call it
A microscopic bug
Reinforcing our lack of real connections
Take time to meditate, they say
As my heart cries out for others
Helpless to act for the lonely, the fearful, the destitute
Nothing I can give, nothing I can do
A tiny bug
That drives huge wedges between people
Destroys our equilibrium
Leaves us unmoored
Floating aimlessly on the sea of uncertainty
This tiny bug can not be ignored
We follow the numbers it has infected
The numbers sent to coffins
We learn to disinfect, clean, isolate
And still, the fear never leaves us
Now we seek answers to this huge change
Scientists warned of possible pandemics
While we kept living our twenty-first century lives
Finding our way in this human-centred world
Ignorant of the rising trauma to our land and its creatures
The fear rising in our gullets
Threatens to spill out of our throats
Spew itself over our neighbours
If they were near enough
Burn them with its caustic energy
This fear does not come from you
The humans do not get to own it
Stop and consider where it came from
Consider the pangolin
The bat
All the so-called exotic animals in
The Wildlife Trade
Trade is such an ordinary word
Wildlife the critters that hide away from us in the forest
The pangolin is curled in a cage
Surrounded by other wild creatures
Awaiting its turn for slaughter
Its blood spilling out in the streets
An interesting meal for a human
Consider this pangolin
No longer safe in its own habitat
Its fear is touching us.
A minor animal virus mutates
And through the web of physical connections
A new virus comes rushing toward you
In this social distancing experiment
Distant from human bodies
Distant from the normal activities of civilization
You have been given space
We have lost our way
Distanced ourselves from the pangolin
Considered ourselves separate, above, non-humans
And now
We are distant from our neighbours and human friends
Stop
In this web of inter-connected life strands
You and the pangolin are not so separate
Offer your heart to the fearful pangolin
The power of healing this vast disconnection
Is within you
And for less mature humans, notably children, who also need to consider the pangolin but in a different way:
The Pangolin
It is covered in scales
But it’s not a fish
Or a lizard, either
It curls up in a ball
But it’s not an armadillo
Or a hedgehog
It loves to eat ants
And termites
But it’s not an anteater
It can spray
Very stinky!
But it’s not a skunk
It is a pangolin
A mammal
Warm but not furry
It wears its scales
Like armour
Hard and strong
And even sharp
Long, sharp claws
Dig for insects
In the ground
Or behind bark
Longer tongue
With sticky saliva
Scoops them up
It has no teeth!
Tiny rocks stick to that tongue
Join the insects
Down into its gizzard
That’s a stomach
A tough stomach
With spines inside it
Is ready for this food
Spines and tiny rocks
Chew those crunchy insects
Help the pangolin
Be healthy and strong
I have not seen a pangolin
Just pictures
They like it that way
Mostly
They get food
When we are sleeping
When we are awake
They curl in a ball
Sleeping
Some in trees
Some in burrows
They like to be alone
Safe
Away from humans
But some people
Find them
Capture them
You and I
We learn about them
Send love to every
Pangolin
Especially when they are scared