Not quite a native Ripley Countian - she attended only her last year of high school in Doniphan though she taught in the R-1 system for 32 years - Teresa (Pearson) Lee delights in surprising readers and herself with anecdotal observations of life in general. Maybe you can blame her St.Louis roots for a quirky humor and some slightly-askewed opinions, but never doubt she writes from the heart.

Turning Twenty

Posted Thursday, January 2, 2020, at 8:24 AM

Twenty years into the 21st century...Used to be science fiction and now I am living in it! WOW!

This original lines of this poem - the ones in black - were written to celebrate the arrival of 2020. We are well into this new year, and what a shocker it has been thus far! We in Ripley County will be in flux for a while, as the schools will be closing tomorrow through April 3. The unknown can be unsettling. In a feeble attempt to practice social distancing during the coronavirus situation, I decided to meld a few more lines - the ones in red.

*The twenty-first century is maturing.

That is debatable in light of covid-19.

Time flew through its adolescence.

Time will slow down now it will seem.

Will we manage a world hopefully enduring

The world is seeming a bit bizzare,

With love, peace and effervescence?

Think with caution wherever you are.

****----****----****----****

*At its birth we used the word 'millennial'

Our confident millennials are in for a shock.

And we all survived the Y2 Scare.

They might be tempted policies to mock.

But the growing pains seem perennial.

OK, Boomers. Admit it, you're frazzeled, too.

Humanity and AI make quite a pair.

Our grndparents would know what to do.

****----****----****----****

*Human connection is digitized,

But when it's forced, no fair!

Lovers' gazes aren't face to face,

Till now. It seems a snare!

It's via devices now romanticized,

Many together in a homes few rooms

The world's becoming a peculiar place.

Could usher in a new baby boom.

****----****----****----****

*Paper is out, screens are in;

Toilet paper's had a resurgencc,

Reality is increasingly virtual.

It's scarcity doesn't make a lick a' sense.

Privacy's walls are growing thin.

Even so, don't dare reach out and touch.

Finding the truth's a trek unusual.

Even if you want to, oh so much!

****----****----****----****

*Will its emerging adulthood provide a break

Be wary of what you ask for,

From time and technology speeding?

You might get it, that and much more.

Are there lessons for humanity's sake

You bet, and we can be stubborn students,

We should slow down and start heeding?

Like being kinder, more generous and prudent?

****----****----****----****

*We'll ponder after the countdown and cake -

We'll have the time in self-quarantine.

This century IS turning twenty -

With hands quite sterile and derrieres so clean.

No doubt we'll have adjustments to make

If some lessons we learn

And wish for more birthdays a'plenty.

Unless recommendations we spurn.