In the Time of Pandemic by Kitty O'Meara is a poem worth repeating – Steve Cardownie

A poem by American writer Kitty O’Meara has deservedly gone viral, writes Steve Cardownie.

Edinburgh's Princes Street is nearly deserted at midday as people stick to the lockdown (Picture: Ian Rutherford)

Edinburgh’s Lord Provost, Frank Ross, very kindly sent me the following poem, called In the Time of Pandemic:

And the people stayed home.

And they read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still.

And they 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.

This poem, written in response to the current pandemic by Kitty O’Meara from Madison, Wisconsin, has gone viral.

So apologies if you’ve read it before but it is still worth repeating.

Kitty O’Meara is also creating a children’s book, And the People Stayed Home, to be released in October 2020 by Tra Publishing.