Pandemic Meditations: The Bleak Midwinter by Liz Rognes

The Bleak Midwinter

by Liz Rognes

In the bleak midwinter, 1.6 million people have died across the world, and counting.

In the bleak midwinter, more than 297,000 people have died from coronavirus in the U.S., and counting. 

On December 9, 2020, more people died in a single day in the U.S. due to coronavirus than the number of deaths on 9/11. 

If ever there was a bleak midwinter, this is it. 

I hope you and your families are safe, although I know as I write this that I have many friends who have been sick, who have long-term illness, and who have lost loved ones. I thought of you and your families as I made this arrangement of this song. 

Please wear your masks and get the vaccine as soon as you can. I want to give you hugs, and I am getting bored of conducting a choir of Liz x 6. I’m aching to sing with other people.

But mostly, I want you all to be alive when we come out of this! 

Please, do what you can so that you and I and our remaining loved ones make it out of this bleak midwinter, alive.

In the Bleak Midwinter
Text by Christina Rossetti
Arrangement by me, based on the Holst melody

To view Liz's performance, you can watch it below or at YouTube with this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDkt7RJEbQY

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Liz Rognes
photo by Rajah Bose

Liz Rognes is a singer/songwriter, composer and writer who teaches writing and literature at Eastern Washington University. She grew up in Iowa and now lives in Spokane with her children. Her music was recently featured on KSPS PBS; you can watch it here: https://www.pbs.org/video/liz-rognes-d6rybl/. 

For more music, recordings, and information, visit visit http://lizrognes.com/

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Pandemic Meditations is a weekly series in which creative people share responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Find more meditations at http://www.erinpringle.com/p/pandemic-meditations-series.html