So here are some haiku UnvaccinatedHave filled the ICU bedsHere, in our state, now Health care’s been rationedCalled “crisis standards of care”My love, be cautious Please don’t ride your bikeOr clean the gutters this weekWhat if you get hurt What if we’re too oldYou say we’ve many years leftAnd we’ve got our shots But that…

Lessons from my inner five-year-old You may have noticed that the world is kind of a mess lately. Lately, as in the past five years, or the past 30, or the past 500. Climate change, pandemic, the disastrous end of a chronic war, the Texas legisature — those are a few of the lowlights from just the past…

I am about to register as a Republican. It’s not what you think Ms. Abrams, you are one of my heroes. If the world were a degree more rational or just, you would be governor of Georgia right now. The 2018 gubernatorial election in your state was famously stinky. Your opponent Brian Kemp was the Secretary…

Thinking of it that way is my key to sanity This week, I confess I have fallen into error It’s a mistake I have made, alas, many times over. It has to do with taking myself seriously. That leads to brooding about my life purpose, which prompts a lot of bother: setting goals against which to…

Regarding wombats, unicycles, karma, and kitchen sinks There’s a reason you’re looking at a wombat I can explain. As you may know, I also write on Medium.com (you can find me there using the search bar under my profile, @janmflynn1537). Currently, Medium is conducting a four-week contest, the Medium Writers Challenge, in which writers are…

It’s less about you than you might think My husband, an actor, landed the role he’d pined for It was a leading-man part he’d wanted to play for years, one he knew he was right for but that would challenge him. The theater was prestigious and well-attended, with a lush budget for sets and costumes.…

Ready or not, it’s a different world My friends and I take a table outside and scan the posted QR code  Three-dimensional menus are largely a casualty of the pandemic. It’s a small but pervasive shift, one of the reminders that life as we knew it has undergone alterations while we were tucked away at home.…

It helped to realize space does not equal room The flight was full and I had the center seat My heart had begun jackhammering the moment the doors closed. The soothing pull of gravity during takeoff, its effect like a temporary weighted blanket, gave way to free-floating semi-weightlessness now that we were at cruising altitude.…

Your butt could be better off If you’re American, your derriere is in danger of neglect  My fellow American, I feel quite safe in this assumption. Why? Because as much time and energy as you devote to keeping your house, your car, your laundry, your kids, your pets, and your corporeal self clean, odds are…