VESTIGES OF A VIRUS
by Chris Booker Sarwine
Eastern Washington University
Chris Booker Sarwine is a Creative Writing English major studying part-time at Eastern Washington University and working full-time for medical school admissions. A lifetime Washington State resident, Chris was moved by the shift of the world during the pandemic and returned to writing as a means of navigating the emotionality in a world caught up in fear, racism, ageism and choking death. The poems The Butte and Vestiges of a Virus are her first published pieces.
VESTIGES OF A VIRUS
Fever raging unabated
Icy hotness making me restless and tired
Damn fever
Frivolous vestiges of pandemic-laden flowers
that smell like coffee burning before you lift
the milky cup
Piecemeal frivolities of ibuprofen and chocolate
Sing to my cells that they should want
to be well
Like hugs
We can’t have everything
Insolent isolation
Nothing is perfect in a pedal of roses and thorns
Which fury is grateful for
being pricked
Lucky callouses that ward off bruises
And cupcakes for the sake of
Bleakness and sleep
The monstrosity of complaints
That borrow nickels to
Pay for water
Interview With The Author
1. What was your inspiration for this piece?
"Vestiges of a Virus" came about from a free writing exercise in one of my creative writing classes and reflects the random thoughts and tensions that had been consuming the world in this pandemic.
2. What is your creative process?
I have always been a person who journals regularly as a means of processing the many thoughts, feelings and stories that run through my mind constantly. After I have my thoughts down on paper, or typed on a page, I have the raw information that I continue to mold from there. The most important part of the process, I have gratefully learned, is having many people read my writing and respond to it. Their feedback shapes the work further and often times helps me to see areas that could be more clear for the reader.
3. What are some influences on your artistic process?
If it weren't for my husband's interest in my writing, I think this journey would be more challenging. He often acts as my muse, thus inspiring more ideas within in me for telling a story. I also tend to dive head first into adversity because writing about it helps me to understand it.