VIRAL POETRY CHALLENGE [CLOSED 9/5 AEST 5.22PM THANKYOU]

in Awakening Poetry4 years ago (edited)

The first week of the #viralpoetry challenge saw some excellent entries around the topic of the pandemic. What I loved about these entries is the different focuses that the writers had - no two were exactly the same in their thinking or their execution. I'll keep this challenge running for a few more weeks yet before deciding on a winner or two. Read the original challenge here, and go read a few poems under the #viralpoetry tag.

I believe these poems are a really important record of the last year and a half where we've struggled to overcome the challenges and trauma that we may not have experienced in this lifetime. Your poetry really touches my heart in so many ways!

There's 50 HIVE up for grabs, maybe a bit more. All you need to do to join is:
  • Reblog this post
  • Write your poem and drop it in the comment section below as a link
  • Use the tag #viralpoetry
  • Mention this post or the original contest post
  • Tag two other Hivers who you think should write!
  • Post in any poetry or writing community that suits

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As much as I wanted to include everyone's entire poem, that would make this post too long, so I summarised their ideas and included my favourite lines. I really encourage you to committ to commenting on at least two of these below - they deserve your attention!




In this poem @paolazun wrote about the boundaries of four walls which imprisoned and isolated us. There's a sense of hope and possiblity despite the despair and uncertainty that came along with being locked down. @paolazun, in her poem 'Opening the Third Inner Eye' asserts it's possible to feel freedom in our minds even if each day is mundane. By opening her mind's eye, she finds herself in a world of possiblities in this 'now', this present moment:

I am the observed observer, connecting with my presence.
Opening myself to a higher power,
Letting myself be guided by the essence.
Creating the world of my dreams.
Sailing the seas of uncertainty.
Carrying the anchor of faith with me even though I wander in the zone of hopelessness.

@carmenm20, in Social Distancings, Go Now poignantly talked about how separate we became from our families and the trauma of social distance. She talks of losing family members, and prays for saviour from the virus, in a kind of prayer:

Fortitude that I ask my blessed God to save us from this virus,
to save us from this virus, please, I ask you.
May this nightmare end and may the light appear and shine.
And let us look at a new day, with joy and the sympathy that there is no more illness that keeps us away from the family that one day we distanced for the love of your life and mine.

@melbourneswest took a decidedly more political turn, and I liked how he focussed on Australia in particular and the loss of jobs, and how the workers still had to risk their lives to keep the economy going.

The poor get poorer and risk their health, while the business class forces everyone to death by stealth.
Back into the city you must, back into the city you have to, back into the city or else, back into the city so I can steal your health, wealth and life, goodness grief Australia is in strife!
Taking orders from a government that can't even vaccinate a suburb, but they're already getting worried about the inner city pay.
We've learned so much, we've learned so little now that economic lunch is coming down to the crunch.
95% of workers resisting the call to return, anger in the elites belly's burn, no one wanting to jump on the COVID train for a turn.
What will tomorrow bring? What song will they make us sing?
Only time will tell, but what's certain is that alot of people will be going to hell.

In this poem 'Desolate Bodies', @universoperdido writes about that sense of separateness from everyone and the terrible longing we all felt and still feel for connection. The mask was even worse, preventing us from really seeing each other:

I would like to speak to your face,
without alcohol or barriers,
that are covering our brokenness,
that you look at my lips and I at yours,
that you be the one to decipher my face
and see how I really feel.


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@@@chinyerevivia 's poem here was heartbreaking, talking about dealing with the virus whilst still grieving over her mother's death, and how trauma can confuse and suppress memories. It does end on a beautiful hopeful note. Highly recommended reading!

I made peace with the pain
Now, I'm embracing the grief
I loved the darkness
But the light loved me more
Like the virus, the ache may never go away
I'll be here always, facing it.

In this poem @franchalad blends anxiety over the pandemic with concern for his country, Venuzuela: 'A pandemic, a country and a crisis//They take away my sleep.'. Like many of the speakers in these poems, there is a refusal to give up hope:

I just want to be happy
I don't want to waste
I have doubts to clear up
Venezuela where will I find you?
I want to be with you
But you keep moving away

Beyond the Atlantic
I have dreams to find
I know that someday I will find
A reason
To go on.

@warpedpoetic joined in with this stunning piece, showing us how poignant imagery can be. There's a sense of stepping out into a frightened world, the anxiety of separation, of longing for loved ones - but also of overcoming and stepping out into the day to find sustenance. Do yourself a favour and read the rest of the poem!

Where are all the faces of my friends?
Where are all my lovers' limbs?
My arms are not enough to carry
my fear. My arms are not enough
to carry death

@trucklife-family wrote about the pandemic as plandemic, and, refusing to subscribe to the lies and confusion, she recreates her own reality, stronger than before, recreating a new world!

So I break away,
break away to disobey,
to follow my own truth
to create my own reality!
To finally see the opportunity, that lies within this insanity!

@stairway2heaven in this post reminded me of how we all realised that nature has a way of levelling us all as it doesn't discriminate.

As a species we always seek to be superior and to control,
but it is that greed consumed by illusions that now condemns us and reminds us of how fragile we really are,
how fragile we really are, nature takes its place and reminds us, one more day how vulnerable we are,
one more day how vulnerable we are and with our lives and through breathlessness we have to pay.
A new weapon of natural cleansing has been adapted that does not judge gender, sex or condition
beginning as an outbreak this beginning and now a threat that deprives us reminds us that we will always be at the mercy of so many,
that we will always be at the mercy of so many changes, that in our life externally we have no control,
at the moment we adapt and accept with resignation and melancholy the new normality.

I was just about to wrap up the week and there was another poem here by @jakim7, praising those who work in the medical field during covid 19 as angels:

Pain and solidarity unite us in this vast pandemonium
in this vast pandemonium where
we are not alone, those angels
have not gone away completely, I see them
every time I see a doctor, a nurse, saving lives at the
nurse, saving lives at the risk of
of their own, they are guided
by those who were called
that afternoon in March 2020
when fate plunged its dagger ...

I adored each and everyone of these so much - please do continue to write, and drop your links below THIS POST, which I've pinned in my blog. I want to keep it going for another week or two, as I believe these poems are an important record of the pandemic and how we have all coped and survived.
Awarding all entries but 3 here a small beneficiary on this post - you're all in the running for the final draw, and are welcome to enter more than once! I'm also sending a 5 HIVE post to three entries I thought were particularly emotive, evocative and well written in terms of literary devices - @universoperdido, @chineyerevivia and @warpedpoetic. Remember it's super hard to judge these and I thought ALL of the poetry was wonderful! Well done to you all. I hope you are able to reblog this post and share it amongst your friends so that we are able to collect more viral poetry for Hivers to read. I hope you've loved reading them as much as I have!

Bring on Week 2!

With Love,

https://gateway.ipfs.io/ipfs/QmcGSZxvsXD8YbSCNAo6KWc4a9RjXyRCjWupZdPXJapkXk

Are you on HIVE yet? Earn for writing! Referral link for FREE account here


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@universoperdido, @chineyerevivia and @warpedpoetic, I do apologise - I have no HIVE in my wallet right now, but some conversions mean I'll have some soon and I'll send it over to you as soon as that happens.

@universoperdido, @chinyerevivian and @warpedpoetic my HIVE came through - finally sent it to your wallet xx

Thank you much much. I appreciate this

I was wondering why I didn't get the notification till I checked your first spelling of my name. Hehehehe. Thank you so much. I appreciate this!

I'm SO sorry. Unforgiveable!

Thank you very much @riverflows

@raymondspeaks I reckon you could give this a crack. I'd like to see bear too but I don't know which one his user name is

Wow, yeah, @raymondspeaks, that'd be amazing!

Ohh !! Thank you very much for the recognition! There are really very good poems and I enjoyed reading some of them, I didn't think I would be among the highlights.

Many thanks @riverflows for making poetry continue to spread, I hope this will continue to spread for much longer. Greetings!!

I hope so too - it's so powerful and I've really been enjoying supporting poetry, even if it's in such a small way

Thank you very much for highlighting my work The moment of the pandemic has been sad, that soon everything is over is a bad memory

You're welcome! Yes, I hope it fades in a few years so we can just move on with our lives, hopefully with some powerful lessons learnt.

May it not be so many years that have to pass. Yes, we have had a great lesson in life.

Thank you @riverflows for support us 💕❤ I really appreciate your recognition.

You are SO welcome - again, thank YOU !!

Thank you for this special recognition. It always feels awesome to get recognised for this writing thing that I have been entangling myself in. I appreciate this and I say congratulations to every contributor. This is good work

No worries, your poetry is SO valued here!

Not funny .

I took a walk outside , crossed a crowd looking at a fallen man .
Asked what happened to a back-row bystander .
The man was fallen by contagious disease , look news camera's and all . Was his answer .
Well that's not funny i said , and moved on .

Some days later i met that bystander again , at a check out counter , wearing a mask .
Asked him why ? He told me i should do to , for old and weaker people .
Well that's not funny i said , and moved on .

Two days ago i met this person again , standing in a line to get vacinated .
He saw me , pointed at me to others , screaming , he is killing us .
Well that's not funny i said , and moved on .

Today there was a loud knock on my door , so i opened it .
there where a crowd , and the man holding a rope in his hands .
Well that's not funny , i said .

;-)

Wow! This kinda knocked me for a six - - that's quite powerful! Are you saying this is an entry as a comment?

Well it's to short for a post i thought , and it did come up writing the comment . Saw some of the poems and thought , com on people , why put so mush personal emotion in it , it blurs the setting that the poem was made to express . Wipe your eyes from tears before you try . So in that light , Not funny , fit's me as a comment ;-) .
Then again , i wrote it , but i was inspired by a master that i just before i wrote it had listened to .
Did i copy ? i don't know for sure , I found this sword but i am blindfolded chopping in the dark . Like a monkey that was given a typewriter . Law , a poem from Bukowski was my base , ill put it up for comparing .
Can it enter the challenge true a comment ? Would not mind that , for i have no artworks to make it in a post right now , and have no others to tag .
And i might say i am a bit shy when it comes to challenges on Hive .

Do as you please , for poems are written to share :-)

Of course, I'll share! Bukowski was a master.

I guess there's different poetry for different folks. I do prefer the more subtley done, and less 'emotional' - yet they should still hit you in some way.

There's so many poems I adore, but for some reason, this one always stuck with me. It taught me there is poetry even in the seemingly mundane.

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Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you, good to read you 😉 I hope you are well. I am fascinated with this initiative, because even if we want we can not evade the situation in which we are immersed, this pandemic has given us all humanity a 360 ° turn and those of us who write poetry to drain our feelings, surely we have written about it. Coincidentally 10 days ago I published a poem entitled: "Plegaria de una madre en el 2021" maybe I can not participate in this contest because of the time in which it was published, but I would be honored if you could read This is the link:

https://hive.blog/hive-161155/@aramza/spanish-english-plegaria-de-una-madre-en-el-2021-poema-a-mother-s-prayer-in-2021-poem

In the same way, I do wish to participate with a new poem, which I will be placing here, because the theme is of undeniable transcendence, we are the generation that has suffered this evil, I think we have the responsibility to leave our thoughts and feelings captured for posterity.
I say goodbye thanking you for giving us this space and the opportunity to leave with our words an imprint in time. A hug

Thank you very much my friend @riverflows for being so generous making reference to my poem, blessings for you and yours, receive my best regards and affection, greetings from Venezuela 🇻🇪 .

Hello loves. Here is mine, finally. I'll be reading the others starting sometime today. I forgot to tag two others in my post, so I will do that here and I hope that suffices: @carolkean, @felixgarciap

https://peakd.com/hive-173638/@owasco/the-importance-of-dreaming

thank you for this wonderful challenge. I hope you like it, this is my entry:

https://peakd.com/hive-133872/@jemima1996/eng-spa-confined-in-meconfinado-en-mi