In this week’s installment of Poetry Friday, Flagstaff physician Mark James brings us a poem about safety. Last year on the 4th of July, he witnessed a traumatic emergency while on a run to the top of Observatory Mesa. He was unable to help in the situation, but it stayed with him…how quickly things change, the transience of life and light. On this 4th of July, Mark shares his poem A Light Goes Out on the Fourth, his salute to emergency health care workers, and a reminder to all of us to stay as safe as we can this holiday weekend.

In this week’s segment of Play Us a Tune, musician David Margheim brings us a song dedicated to his best friend, Scott Brower. They met as kids and made a lot of music together over the decades, including a song called Goin’ Home. But they never ended up recording it. In April, Scott died from complications of COVID-19. As a tribute, David decided he would finally record the song they wrote together years ago, and he performs it for us today. Here’s David Margheim with Goin’ Home. 

The Navajo Nation is one of the hardest hit areas by coronavirus in the United States. That presents a grim reality for funeral homes during this crisis. The Navajo Nation has a burial assistance program that helps tribal members with some funeral costs, but of the 11 mortuaries that participate, only two are located in Arizona. The Valley Ridge Mortuary in Tuba City has had to bring on more staff and add a temporary storage unit due to the death toll. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with the mortuary’s director Michael Begay about the emotional impact on himself and his staff.