Dubbed "the poet laureate of the pandemic", retired teacher Kitty O'Meara from Madison, Wisconsin never expected to go viral. Yet her poem, "And the people stayed home," did exactly that. O'Meara, who recently worked in palliative care, told The Oprah Magazine that her poem was the result of an accumulation of months worth of anxiety surrounding the global pandemic, and says her poem “offers a story of how it could be, what we could do with this time." She posted the poem on her personal Facebook page and it has since been widely shared across the world via multiple platforms. The poem offers a message of hope for those struggling with the effects of the pandemic and resulting isolation.
The poem, "And the people stayed home" reads:
And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently.
And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal.
And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed.
Looking for some uplifting reads? Visit our online library at Hearfind for a wide variety of ebooks, audiobooks, music, and more. Accessible anytime, anywhere, from your favorite devices.
No comments:
Post a Comment