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These are strange times. Poetry can help us focus on the natural rhythms of life, on happy moments. Poetry can help us think about things. On this page, the Poem Booth will feature poems that "go there."
There is a HOPI Indian word, Koyaanisqatsi, that means when nature is out of balance, or a time so crazy it cannot last.
Graham Anton (5) here performs a poem that he wrote about that! Take a listen?
COVID - 19
by Kate Geary
I step on to the wet grass,
I see all my friends in masks,
No more going to the grocery store,
I wish I went to school more,
We’re at school and home,
We can’t even borrow a comb,
We text and email,
We stand up for females,
The election is going on,
We sing happy birthday on the lawn,
We should support each other,
We should have people over for supper,
But this is what we live with now,
So mistakes are always allowed,
Try your best to make it better,
If you don’t you’ll be missing out.
POEM for the PANDEMIC
by Maya Faulstich
I lie in my bed the tears soaking my pillow
My last droplets of optimism dripping away
The wind whispers to me through my window
Softly telling me, just get through one more day
Everything, Every day, is a brutal reminder
Of the deadly silent city streets
Of the deep infections and no connections
Of the tear stains on my wrinkled bed sheets
But upon calming down with a book in hand
These words creep into my soul
“I cannot solve these problems, but I can try to understand,”
Simply breathing, and letting go
Upon asking a friend, how do you cope?
He tells me, pleasure in the simple things
Looking around, I suddenly find hope
In the flowers, In the rain, in the bird that sings
Upon finding a poem while cleaning my room
Upon looking for silving linings amidst the strife
Upon picking a flower in nearly full bloom
The love in the world has shown me life.
If you cry and you can’t deal with school online
If you’re feeling like life is a drone
Look to those you love, to the earth, and to the sky
These are all a reminder that you are not alone
Every Question that I've Asked that Contradicts What I Kno
By P̴̭̘̠͙̏̈̍̈̕O̷̥͖͖̪͒̐̓̇Ṯ̷͈̘͇̽͜A̶̭̓T̷̛͚͕͙̐Ö̸̺̈́
The cast is die
Your life is a lie
Your existence and meaning is false
People are dying
Your choices don’t matter
So why do you even try
An insignificant dot in the scale of things
Is our solar system
The impacts you make
Don’t even matter
Because they have already been done
7.8 Billion
331Million
1.3 Million
8.5K
The amount of people is more
You’re even smaller than you ever knew
You’re weak
You’re barely a dent in the grand scheme of things
In 100 years you’ll be erased
Now think of the universe
The planets and stars
Where there are more than you
You’re barely a speck
Even on our planet
In a larger and grander scale
Think even more
About other things
Humanity might not be the first
With almost infinite planets
More life can exist
Even greater than ours
With things that we can’t even fathom
Our sanity
YOUR MIND CANNOT SEE THE TRUTH
Now think of our sanity
It’s like a container
That’s slowly filling with cement
It goes in and out
Flows slowly
If it hardens you’re stuck……
In the room
Your mind is as fragile as glass
Stuck with order and sameness
No matter your choices
Your race
your gender…
your age
Will not even matter in the grand scheme of things
The delicate chaos that is time and space
Can be broken with a single question
Do I exist
Or
Is anything real
The answer is
[(∞+∞)/∞]*(-∞)+0.∞
Have you ever thought
The answer to all
Is also a question to be solved
Like Doctor Who?
Or 42
So long and thanks for the fish
The universe is older than you or your legacy
As immortal as anything can be
It all will explode
Or suddenly implode
Along with all inside of its grasp…………………
Here is a reassuring poem from Soon to BE 5th grader, Graham A.
Steady Friends
Are you feeling heavy-headed?
Loosely-threaded
A Friend is there to keep you
ready
steady
cool
friends rule.
This one is by Ella Cameron, gr. 6:
Global Pandemic
By: Ella Cameron
You must admit,
Though perhaps through gritted teeth,
that all things have a silver lining.
Whether it’s a global pandemic that locks you inside,
To a rainy day-
and the rain keeps on coming.
Have you ever heard the poem of April showers
causing May flowers to bloom?
I’m sure you’ve heard, even more often than that, the one going like this, recited from this paper to you:
“Covid-19 is sweeping through the continents, and we have decided it best to lockdown all unessential areas. Social distancing is key. If you must go outside, stay at a minimum of 6 ft. etc., etc.”
No?
You say that’s not a poem?
Either way, I know you’ve heard it.
I’m just here to say that all things have a silver lining,
Even though you might protest.
Think of it this way:
There will be less inebriated drivers if all the places to drink are closed,
And if people are isolated, all sicknesses won’t know where to go!
And I’ve never heard of being stuck together making you farther apart,
And for me, isolation has helped my imagination a lot.
But, a final thing I want to say:
Although it may have a silver lining, I want you to know...
A GLOBAL PANDEMIC is NOT something you want!
(Just making sure you knew)
Next, Haley Doan, inspired by writing haiku, wrote many KU (stanzas) about this time in history. She says she did it because she was bored. Haley, you should get bored more often!
Coronavirus
Taking over our poor world
Getting better though…
I’m going insane
With no one but family
I hate this virus
No internet, nope
There’s no power yet either
I’m losing all hope
Water droplets fall
Cold spears are weakened by warmth
Spring is coming soon
Adrenaline rush
I see it soar through the air
The thrill of winning
I am the future
But I will not use my brain
I will use my heart
What some people think
Is not always true, but know
What they feel is true
Emotion is key
Never let go of your dreams
You will find a way
This one is by Philippa Atkin, a poet in the UK. This poem is making rounds on the internet, often without the poet's name attached. Let's hear it for free range words, but also for credit to the author (said the Poem Booth, with feeeeeeling):
IN THE TIME OF QUIET
No one’s told the daffodils about the pause to Spring
And no one’s told the birds to roost and asked them not to sing
No one’s asked the lazy bee to cease his bumbling round
And no one’s stopped the bright green shoots emerging through the ground
No one’s told the sap to rest, deep within the wood
And stop the sleepy trees from waking, wreathed about in bud
No one’s told the sky to douse its brightest shades of blue
And stop the scudding clouds from puffing headlong into view
No one’s asked the lambs to still the springs beneath their feet,
To stop their rapid rush and quell each joyful bleat
No one’s told the stream to halt its gurgle or its flow
And warned the playful breezes, not to gust and blow
No one’s asked the raindrops not to fall upon the earth
And fail to quench the soil in the season of rebirth
No one’s locked the sun down, or dimmed the shimmer of the moon
And even in the darkest night, the stars are still immune
Remember what you value, remember who is dear
Close the doors to danger and keep your family near
In the quiet all around us take the time to sit and stare
And wonder at the glory unfurling everywhere
Look towards the future, after the ordeal
And keep faith in Mother Nature’s power and will to heal
and, via the Gulf of Maine Bookstore blog:
Coronavirus Spring
What I want to say to the tulips
that emerged, again, in March:
I am so grateful to count on you
There is nothing else to gird me
anymore. This beauty almost
makes me weep.
Do you see how different
the world is now?
And they tell me: No,
as we know it, the world is still the same.
The rains arrived this morning.
The nightingale keeps working so hard
to sing. The starling wails.
If sickness comes,
I want to be like the wise tulips,
store energy in my heart bulb
and come back after a hard winter
dressed in bright turbans
of orange and yellow and red.
Zeina Azzam
first published by New Verse News
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