Four Poems from the Year of Calamity

Abstract

These four poems by Mi Jialu were written during the heyday of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 as the virus swept around the world. They document the human condition of suffering, vulnerability, and helplessness while also expressing the irresistible longing for freedom, hope, and healing. Through meditating on samsara and nirvana, these poems seek to evoke a more spiritual aura of awakening and illumination in the post-apocalyptical age of natural calamity. © 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.