It’s my birth month and it’s been a weird one; then again, aren’t they all? I’m woefully caught up in my own life right now, but Google Trends is here to remind me what the rest of the world is thinking about. Here are a few standouts.
1. Delta Plane Crash
I first learned about the recent Delta plane crash in Toronto while exploring Google Trends for this story. It follows a string of plane crashes in the US over the last few weeks.
I am fearful because my spouse regularly travels by plane for work, and plane crashes are not often survivable (though this one seems to have had a 100% survival rate). Fear dominates the news these days and it’s a difficult emotion to be steeped in 24/7. Tim Seibles explores the surreal fear of our modern world in his poem Zombie Blues Villanelle.
2. Super Bowl 2025
“Super Bowl 2025” garnered more searches than “Super Bowl LIX” and I’m relieved to know that not everyone is keeping track of how many Super Bowls we’ve had along with the corresponding Roman numeral. Honestly, keeping track of the year is hard enough at this point.
Soccer/futbol/football has shown up in every trend list since I started writing these, but American football not so much. The Super Bowl is unique in its popularity. I watched at my parents’ house while we ate wings and my dad read headlines about the current U.S. president, alternating between humor and revulsion. What do you think about while watching American football?
3. Definition
People googling “definition” probably preceded it with another word (e.g. “myrmidon definition”). I like this. Firstly, it’s great to learn new words and secondly, there are some excellent etymology poems out there. I was fortunate to attend a workshop on etymological poetry hosted by Ja’net Danielo this past autumn, which is where I first read “etymology” by Airea D. Matthews.
4. Snow
This is an unsurprising search trend for February in the northeast. I love snow, but this is about the time of year when I start to get sick of it—and we’ve had a lot lately. Fortunately, snow is almost always beautiful in poems, as evidenced by one of my all time favorites, Mary Oliver.
5. Paquita la del Barrio
Beloved Mexican singer/songwriter Paquita la del Barrio passed away in February at the age of 77. She was a feminist icon whose music often criticized male chauvinism, including the popular anthem “Rata De Dos Patos.” A snippet in the original Spanish as well as English translation:
Rata inmunda
Filthy rat
Animal rastrero
Creeping animal
Escoria de la vida
Scum of life
Adefesio mal hecho
Shoddy monstrosity.
Infrahumano
Subhuman
Espectro del infierno
Spectre of Hell
Maldita sabandija
Damn vermin
Cuánto daño me has hecho
How much damage you've done to me.
Between this song and the wild success of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” the world is definitely here for diss tracks. The fiery desire to artistically burn our rivals has been a part of the human experience for centuries.
Next month: spring in the northern hemisphere. I’m ready.
Written by Allisonn Church
Allisonn Church was born in a small rural community to a mother who pinned butterflies in glass cases and hid scarab beetles in her jewelry box. Her first favorite poem was “The Willow Fairy”’ by Cicely Mary Barker. Find a list of Allisonn's published work at churchpoems.wordpress.com.