All the Words We Cannot Say.
Poetry is Having a Moment.
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.
- Kitty O’Meara
Known as the poet laureate of the pandemic, the retired Wisconsin teacher Kitty O’Meara wrote this viral poem about the current COVID-19 crisis. However, she isn’t the only poet who has found increased popularity during this time. More people are turning to this art form to find healing and meaning. Whether writing or reading, poems offer insights into our need for connection and hope.
The End of Poetry
This week, we want to let poetry speak for us. Here is part of a poem called “The End of Poetry” by Ada Limón.
“...and enough of the pointing to the world, weary and desperate, enough of the brutal and the border, enough of can you see me, can you hear me, enough I am human, enough I am alone and I am desperate, enough of the animal saving me, enough of the high water, enough sorrow, enough of the air and its ease, I am asking you to touch me.”
- Ada Limón, The End of Poetry
It might seem backwards to extol poetry and then share a poem that speaks of the end – but we think there is something this poem expresses that we are all feeling, and ironically, by doing so, the poem actually reinforces the importance of its own existence.
