Sally Toner: the COVID Poetry & Art Project
Now that we’ve officially passed the one-year anniversary of the pandemic beginning, it seems apt to publish a poem that explores the circularity of time, as well as the ways we find ourselves wrapped up in new activities or observations, all these odd and creative ways to pass the time. Sally Toner is a poet, fiction, and nonfiction writer from Northern Virginia. She’s also a high school English teacher and cancer survivor who brings her multifaceted experiences to her work.
Exploring the ways she’s coped and revived her creative writing during the pandemic, Sally spoke to us about the power of community. “My online classroom and the online writing community have been my salvation in so many ways. And the more I've immersed myself in these, and in reading everything I can get my hands on, the more my own work has begun to re-emerge.”
Cornhole
by Sally Toner
Time is a flat circle—or maybe a lumpy bag we toss across the lawn. We’re flipping for sports we miss and land on the cornhole championships, brought to you by ESPN. I think I may have missed my calling. Some scout should have spotted me in the backyard juggling husks of magnolia pods, and said, “This kid’s got it.” “It” being a talent for recreation that is now a split screen where announcers argue the strategy of barbecue. Virtual diagrams measure the space between center and where we land. We throw distance between us. We write outside the margins and walk outside them too when thoughts and people threaten with their stinky breath. The athletes on TV wear masks, retreat to phones instead of towels between turns. They’re sponsored by some sausage company. The ad runs in a ticker at the bottom of the screen quicker than they ever will. reminding me that I never minded breakfast for dinner, and what does it matter now anyway?
A friend told me that, last week, he watched the international sign spinning championships on the very same channel. “They were from 2019. It was one helluva year for sign spinning, I guess,” he said.
I imagine a Ken Burns production, its title simple and brave—
Cornhole.
The poster shows a close-up of a wooden box painted red, white, and blue with that cavern in the middle. Never mind how he’d make the episode names kid friendly. He’d manage. We all will.
Chatting with Sally Toner
Can you tell us a little about this poem or piece of art and how you came to create it? How has the current crisis (or crises) influenced your art?
This was earlier in the pandemic, when I was, on top of everything else so enormous, mourning the loss of professional sports. (This was before the baseball season actually began, and I am a HUGE Washington Nationals fan.) I came upon a Cornhole championship on ESPN and found myself intrigued by the distanced nature of this backyard pastime during this time.
How has the current crisis influenced my art? I'll be honest, the past year has put me in an emotional place where it is often difficult to create. I'm a high school English teacher about to go back hybrid. My online classroom and the online writing community have been my salvation in so many ways. And the more I've immersed myself in these, and in reading everything I can get my hands on, the more my own work has begun to re-emerge. In the process, I realized there HAS been some writing to come out of 2020 and early 2021, and I've actually compiled a chapbook I'll be shopping around, entitled The Golden Year. I believe that coming through even the worst of times can beget some artistic alchemy in the end.
What role do you think the arts play in times of turmoil and uncertainty?
As I said earlier, during this time, the artistic communities I am a part of (and I include my teaching life in this most definitely) have been a lifeline. In other periods of personal turmoil, "writing through," "creating through" is therapeutic and also helps us share our experience with others. When that sharing happens, others have permission to experience their own uncertainty in a new way, and that's a beautiful thing.
What are you viewing/reading/watching/listening to these days?
Okay, first I must admit to bingeing The Great British Baking Show. There's something so soothing about that program. And I love to bake--love food in general. Also, I'm teaching King Lear with my class (something I re-read every year in the winter, which is always appropriate but even more so this year). So I began watching Fox's Empire, which has been on my list for a while and has so many Shakespearean themes. Plus, the music! I'm a music minor, and when I'm not in my journal, I'm usually at my piano, so I'm a sucker for all things, viewing, reading, etc. musical.
What am I listening to? Actually, it's an icy Valentine's day in Reston, VA, so Smokey Robinson seems appropriate. What am I reading? I usually read many things at once. So Lear and Gatsby for my classes. Jhumpa Lahiri's new story self-translated from the Italian. If you haven't read her memoir In Other Words, it's a fascinating explanation of this change in her writing process that challenges everything I ever assumed about how to elevate language. Finally, I am plowing through The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I love this novel, and everyone in my middle-aged demographic (or maybe any age demographic) should read it. That's all I'll say without giving too much away.
Do you have a favorite local writer or artist (D.C. area)?
There are SO many. Again, have I mentioned this artistic community is a lifeline? I would say, though, that my friend Hiram Larew stands out. He is truly one of the most generous artists I've ever met. On a large scale, his PoetryXHunger initiative is doing such important work. And during the pandemic, he has organized and been a part of so many wonderful online events. He's always the first to celebrate a colleague's success, put forward submission opportunities, send general well-wishes in any way he can.
[Read Hiram Larew’s poem and interview featured in the COVID Poetry & Art Project!]
AND...to use the terminology of my brother-in-law from Ipswich, Mass...HE'S WICKED TALENTED!
Anything else that you want to say?
I think I've been long-winded enough. Thank you so much for including me!
About the poet
Sally Toner is a high school English teacher who has lived in the Washington, D.C. area for over 20 years. Her poetry, fiction, and nonfiction have appeared in Northern Virginia Magazine, Gargoyle Magazine, District Lit, Watershed Review, and other publications. She lives in Reston, Virginia with her husband and two daughters. Her first chapbook, Anansi and Friends, from Finishing Line Press, is a mixed genre work focusing on diagnosis, treatment, and recovery from breast cancer.
Find Sally on Twitter: @SallyToner, on Instagram: @salliemander70, and on her website: sallytoner.com.