Thanks so much to all of you that have joined in the #viralpoetry challenge. I loved all of your poems - they recorded a momentous time in human history for all of us, a collective trauma for many. The overwhelming message was one of hope - that this too shall pass, and we shall be stronger for it.
To me, it didn't matter what your opinion was of the virus, politics, or anything that went along with it. What mattered was how it affected us, and is still affecting us. I recognise the alternative views of the pandemic, but believe we must understand how others have lived this past year.
I believe these poems form an important record of these times, and I wanted to list them all here for posterity - perhaps it's worth bookmarking, to come back to in a few years time. A poetic record, if you will, of these times.
A Mother's Prayer
The Riding of an Enigma
Where Is the Empathy for Others?
The Importance of Dreaming
Confined in Me
My Journey Through the Plandemic
The Mask
A despicable sight by @aramza by @aramza by @tejimundo by @owasco by @jemima1996 by @trucklife-family by @justclickindiva by @evev
Trembling hands
touch the walls
percussing diverse sounds...
rhythms of ancestors
that reveal company,
offer comfort to the neighbor
with the sound of what they express.
Orwell's Lost Volumes
A Year, and Beyond
Social Distancing
Opening the Inner Eye
A Year Later, What Next
Poetry in Lockdown
Memories that still breathe
Desolate Bodies
Pandemonium
Behind My Mask
All Alone by @cryptodave by @melbourneswest by @carmenm20 by @paolazun by @chinyerevivian by @franchalad by @warpedpoetic by @universoperdido by @jakim7 by @nahupuku by @bruno-kema
I'm all alone in my big empty house,
with the drone of the air conditioner;
and the scampering feet if the mouse.
Unable to be mobile;
unable to get out into the sun
@bruno-kema
Vulnernability
From Quarantine by @stairway2heaven by @silher
The night is a pause,
a parenthesis to be filled,
a clock that stops,
a prayer,
a song,
a desire that throbs in insomnia.
@silher
Alone
Life Changes by @jesuspsoto by @ubani1
The Winners
Okay, I confess how much I hate winners, when I think everyone's poem packed a powerful punch! I've already awarded @warpedpoetic, @chinyerevivian and @universoperdido 5 HIVE each for there fantastic poems. With 35 HIVE remaining today, the final winners are:
resonateThere were two poems I loved for their succinct and powerful approach to the challenge - @thatcryptodave and @owasco's. Both win 10 HIVE each. Poetry often demands to be read a number of times, sucking you into a vortex of meaning. Your approach was novel, and stepped outside the very emotional chaos that was - and is - whorling around you to offer something quite different, and left me thinking long after the final reading. That's the power of poetry, no? And me being a lover of how words , well, these words resonated with me. Thankyou. Another 5 HIVE goes to @warpedpoetic as I simply can't get out of my head the image of the raven as substitue for the dove, signifying the flood is over - and barrelling out into the moonlight to wonder where everyone is, and whether you've got the strength for this trauma, and then practicality and pragmatism prevailing.
@franchalad's poem wins 5 HIVE, reminding us that COVID is just another layer on top of a devastating crisis in Venuzuela. I loved the percussive drumming and human connection in @evev's post so she also wins 5 HIVE, as does @bruno-kema, as his repetition really emphasised the loneliness and isolation of home quarantine.
If you entered this challenge, please find the time to go and comment on at least three of the poems you've missed. I know your time is precious, but so is the vulnerability, love, courage and beauty expressed in all of these poems, which deserve recognition in the form of your attention.
I can't express how wonderful you all are, and how these poems give me faith in humanity. From the bottom of my poetry loving heart, I thank you!