“They Are Building a Hospital.”

I have just returned from a road trip to both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park. This was a first visit to these parks and it can be summed up in one word – Majestic! While driving I caught up on some podcasts. Listening to Padraig O Tuama (Irish poet and theologian) is always charming and challenging, informative and inspirational. I am thankful for his introduction to the poem They Are Building a Hospital by Maya C. Popa in his podcast Poetry Unbound. https://onbeing.org/programs/maya-c-popa-they-are-building-a-hospital/This is the first poem of Maya C. Popa that I have read and for sure I will be reading more. Her resume is impressive and the subjects she tackles critically important. She presently teaches at NYU and elsewhere and serves as poetry editor of Publishers Weekly. The view from her apartment onto Central Park is the setting of her poem. Padraig describes the poem wonderfully and I have included a link to his podcast, see above. As always take time to pause and ponder and imagine as you recall those uncertain days during the COVID 19 pandemic.

“THEY ARE BUILDING A HOSPITAL”

“On the field outside my home, a field
hospital, in an actual field, the great American
Oak on one end, the Tupelo on the other.
They have laid white tarp over the boggy grass
and raised a series of insulated tents.
It has blossomed overnight like a dark circus,
machines to dehumidify the air,
cots like dollhouse furniture and intricate
machines to keep alive those whose bodies
are resigned to leaving. An orchestra
of discipline and calculated faith,
of power cords and outlets maneuvered
around trees, of hoping rain holds
and spring reads the room: the human beings
are desperate. They have built a hospital
where, in other days, I walked my dog,
counting no blessing but the one I chased,
who startled strangers on blankets
before stretching on the grass. How happy
I was not knowing how happy, walking
the path along the field’s perimeter,
watching the sky flare its oranges and pinks,
reflect a cool purple off the leaves.
Idling in goodness, letting the mind loose
over the life let it. I thought forever,
did not think, for so much of gladness
was thoughtlessness. Now I mourn
the hours from the safety of my health,
stand a little lost at what proceeds
the mourning. They are building a hospital—
the whir of engines stirs the animals,
a melody, a dirge, the robins sing.” Maya C. Popa

Prayer:
Holy God,
these past few years have taught us
to no longer take life for granted. We
continue to emerge from the pandemic
cautious that danger may still lurk around
the corner. Help us, O Lord, to treasure
this gift of life and to live our lives in the
fullness of your promise of hope and holiness.
Lord God, prompt and prod us from our neglect
and our forgetfulness for those whose lives are
encircled by danger and uncertainty.
I pray for those still caught
in the horrors of day to day war in Ukraine.
I pray for those whose lives have been devastated by the
restless earth and the natural forces of nature in Morocco.
I pray for the many in Libya where the tragedy of flooding
has been caused in part by the neglect of government
management of natural resources.
Lord God, hear all our prayers and help us to become agents
of change as we seek to offer aid and support. May we never tire
of building hospitals.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.