Thank you Amy Ludwig VanDerwater for hosting this week’s Poetry Friday! Please check in with her at The Poetry Farm where you will be rewarded, as usual, with poetry and her inspiring and insightful thoughts about poetry. She possesses a remarkable wealth of talent.
Today forsythias.
The forsythia is wonderful news this week, along with my family’s good health.
Today, I would like to tell Poetry Friday authors who have the time, that there is a Twitter campaign afoot to encourage young people to stay in place and stay safe. Kids need encouragement to take social distancing seriously in order to save lives.
Thank you, Padma Venkatraman, a fellow contributor in THANKU: POEMS OF GRATITUDE and the author of THE BRIDGE HOME, for launching this hashtag campaign! Padma is requesting that authors take a selfie of themselves with one of their books, and post with it a message. It can be written on a post-it stuck on the book. Padma reminds us of the many kids who might be homeless. Your message might be “Stay safe. Shelter in place. Stay safe” or whatever message you like. This is not a marketing opportunity, just a chance to encourage kids.
Kids are “looking for guidance from people they trust: celebrities, athletes, teachers, authors.” Hashtags include: #AuthorsTakeAction, #TakeShelterInStory, #socialdistancing, #thankyoufirstresponders.
If you have the time, check out these hashtags to see what some authors have done.
Below is a cinquain addressed to the very infectious Covid 19 virus. It’s a weak plea. It cannot be heard by this bundle of RNA, this dreadful highjacker looking for a host. Once it gets in a nose, eye or mouth, it takes over the DNA in normal cells and replicates efficiently, like a house fire
Virus. Dumb, blind pirate, accidentally conceived, on the wind in search of a home- Please leave!
Stay safe and well, everyone.