Beneath the Mask: An Artistic Look at the Pandemic And The Year That Changed the World Forever...2020

By Bryn e. Leetch

There is no doubt that COVID has affected every aspect of our lives. It does not matter if you are young or old, rich or poor, or what color your skin may be, COVID does not discriminate. We overcame obstacles we never thought we could, we learned who we would want to share our foxholes with, and some took to the streets to declare justice. While this menace ravages our world leaving us somewhat disintegrated, we find ourselves sitting with our diminished dreams, resilient, and ready to fight on.

Beneath the Mask reveals the issues that we have all just so innocently endured due to the pandemic and unleashes a fresh, new pair of eyes. I hope that it will bring promise and light to what has been such a suffocating year at the relentless hands of COVID-19.

This is a self-help book, an art book, and a history book. This is your time capsule. You are about to discover what really lies Beneath the Mask.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638603368

Book preview

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Beneath the Mask

An Artistic Look at the Pandemic And The Year That Changed the World Forever...2020

Bryn e. Leetch

Copyright © 2022 Bryn Leetch

All rights reserved

First Edition

Fulton Books

Meadville, PA

Published by Fulton Books 2022

ALL ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY ROWAN FOLEY

ISBN 978-1-63860-337-5 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-63860-336-8 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

A SHOCKING START TO 2020

Kobe

So It Begins

The COVID Warrior

In Harmony

Beneath the Mask

Our Tribe

Murder Hornets

The Doctor's Arrived

Alien Annihilation

The George Floyd Movement

Black Lives Matter

Step into Space

Time to Unite

Take a Knee

Monumental Madness

Feeling the End

Beating Depression

Adopt Me

Faces Light up the Sky

The Turning Journey

To the Street

Addiction Hotline

Shades of Humanity

A Funny Little Smile

Healing Oneself

Remembering John Lewis

Get Tested

Life Is In Session

Patience

Dime-store Blanket

It's All Backwards

The Conversation

School Yard Drought

Zoom

LET'S TAKE A BREAK AND WASH OUR HANDS

Push, Pivot, and Produce

On Fire

Bursting Bubbles

Where's the Money

Let's Pray

A Glimmer of Hope

Trepidation

Making the Best of It

Color Coded Society

RIP R.B.G.

Wipe Out

I Wonder

Eddie Van Halen

Moving Forward in Reverse

As the World Reopens

Sean Connery

The Shape of Things to Come

Our 2020 Win

Alex Trebek

Stick It

Here We Go Again

The Vaccine

Six Feet Above

In the Moment

Christmas Eve

Universal Racket

The Mutant Strand

Creeping Closer

Our Destiny

A Mirage of Hope

A Realization

It Just Hit Home

Now What

There's a Chance

In Memory

Happy New Year

Until We Read Again

The end.

Credits

Note from Author

About the Author

2020 was a year many of us wish we'd never seen. The idea of looking back at it now, peeking over our collective shoulder as we walk away, can feel scary. Many of us may feel too raw, too vulnerable to bear witness to what happened just yet. But with this book, Bryn Leetch has given us what we need most right now—a hand to hold onto while we dare to look back—from a safe distance. Her words offer protection from what nearly killed us. Like safety goggles, they offer us all a poetic lens through which we can keep our eyes (and hearts) wide open, finding the courage to move forward and the wisdom to never forget.

—Mary Birdsong (actress, author, comedian)

The angels will all sing. That's how you will feel as you read this emblematic book of poetry that echoes the resiliency of the human spirit—that through pain and fear, we can all be scholars and then teachers helping others in the end." Thank you, Bryn Leetch, for inspiring us with your open heart and lyrical legacy.

—Janine Turner (actress, poet, author)

This book of poems is a reflection of our American experience during Covid—what we gained and what we lost, and, most importantly, what we need to know and feel in order to move forward in spite of our scars.

—P. S. Foley (author of West Newport Blues and Riding Godzilla)

A somber journey through a forever altered world and all the frantic quandaries of survival and adaptation against an invisible enemy. Beneath the Mask is written with an eloquent, vulnerable fever, highlighting all of the sociocultural clashes that have permanently tilted the human domain on its axis. The author takes us by the hand through this uniquely crafted introspection, to find a new understanding of life beyond the greatest of tribulations. To survive. To live.

—Harry Goaz (director, actor, artist)

There is power in words both healing and meaning. The poems of Bryn Leetch give rise to both.

—P. S. Foley (author of West Newport Blues)

A beautifully cathartic and poetic encapsulation of one of the toughest years to date.

—Niki Koss (actress, director, producer)

This book is dedicated to you.

Acknowledgments

To God, for guiding my pen

To both my dads, for being my first love

To my mom, for realizing my full potential and always believing in me

To Naomi Fukuta, for being a remarkable assistant and my dearest friend

To Rowan Foley, for your exquisite illustrations

To Susanne Johnson, for always making the time to help me realize my dreams

To Kathy and Steve Foley, for your endless support

To Cindy Leetch, for your perfect ear

To Shutter Stock and iStock, for the telling photos

To David Cooper, for being my true north

And to you, who are breathing me in

Preface

This book is a force…

A chronological embodiment of the devastating experiences that we have all just endured and our strengths as they continue to happen still.

My intention is to share my insight and hopefully it will resonate with you. I can imagine right now that every man, woman, and child are all feeling the exact same thing while this universal threat, never felt before in our lifetime, has completely engulfed us. The experience of what has been happening around us has been an energy so