Mercy walks down a different block

A pandemic poem by Patricia Spears Jones

Patricia Spears Jones was sitting on a secret when we spoke about her poem, “Saturnine,” a couple of weeks ago. It was a few days later that I (and everyone else) would learn that she was about to be installed as the 2023-2025 New York State Poet, a lofty honor that puts her squarely in the company of a score of contemporary poetry’s most elite. Her pre…