Welcome to the carnival, do you have your mask?
Each week here is different than the last.
Here’s our first ride, a new daily routine,
Wake up, get ready, sit on Zoom, and repeat.
Get your words out before the next point arrives,
It’s a game that we play, Whack-a-Mole in disguise.
Do the teachers see your hand, or that you’re trying to talk?
It’s more than just energy it seems has been blocked.
How to attune to your virtual class?
Be present in your room with the screen and its glass.
Plan for the next day what there is to get done,
But it’s not sitting right and feels more funky than fun.

Proceed with caution, our next stop is fragile,
Our house of mirrors is for reflections unraveled.
Where should I work, what skills do I bring,
Is this a grounded, focused, adequate thing?
I wonder for them, does this feel real?
I join Google Meet, “Hello, how do you feel?”
And who can I email when I have a concern?
Can you answer this question, is it my turn?
Where are the boundaries with working remote?
So much of their life out of my control.
Lines of professional and personal life blurred,
But that’s not the craziest thing that I’ve heard.

Take a look over here, behind bars in a cage,
The foundation of our nation is taking the stage.
There’s racial injustice, death in the streets,
George Floyd – say his name – and brutality.
Capitol riots and racism unseen
Work to benefit the White supremacy. 
Everything you see here is truth, not a lie, 
There’s no gadgets or tricks, no deceptions to deny.
The only choice now is to change and take action, 
Look at the system, eliminate the problem.
Challenge the mindset while peeling the onion
Around racism and trauma, and how we can stop them.

Welcome to the carnival, do you have your mask?
Have a good time, it won’t be your last. 

This poetic interpretation/representation of research findings was written by Josie Brennan.

Featured image courtesy of Vlad Hilitanu on Unsplash.