Pandemic Poetry Page

Poetry is pouring out of this pandemic and seeping into my screen.

This vivid blast of creativity and vision has been a lifeline of hope amidst the uncertainty and anxiety. I’m collecting some highlights on this page.

First out of the gate was Lockdown by Father Richard Hendrick.

The next thing on my radar was The Poetry Pandemic by Randall McNair, a member of my writer’s club. I think he was onto something. Poetry IS going viral.

Speaking of, And the people stayed home by Kitty O’Meara, has been memed, handlettered, and hashtagged around the world in a beautiful, exuberant amplification of the spiritual connection this global crisis has made evident.

My featured muse this month

s for me, there are days when I can’t express myself at all, between the distractions, the anxiety, the waves of grief. Sometimes a haiku comes out. The less said, the more said.

When I look for words
to express this pandemic,
tears pour out instead.

All of us, like Earth
rebreathe carbon concentrates,
dreaming of safe air.

Things aren’t as they seem.
This is not a mass hold-up.
Behind the masks are smiles.

On Earth Day, I hosted a reading with Wolf Pack, my Writer’s Action Group (WAG). If you’re lolling around and would like to listen to some words about nature, the planet, and the panic, come take a listen. I read my poem, Corona, which I’ve submitted to some literary magazines, and sent to readers of my newsletter.

Every issue for the last several years has featured one of the traditional muses. Appropriately, this issue features Polyhymnia, muse of sacred poetry. There’s such a blur between a poem, a meditation, and a prayer, especially the more I learn about heartmath. The Coronavirus Prayer by James Parker appeared in the Atlantic this morning. Church is de-centralized now.

Today we had a family Zoom planning a memorial service for my uncle. Of course when you remember one family member, you remember all of them, and I was reminded that I come from a family of poets. This one is by my grandmother, who I never met. She died in a former pandemic called “childbirth.” What are the winds? I think it is safe to say this poem “blows me away.”

What poetry has moved you this spring? Drop me a link in the comments!