MEET THE WOMAN WHO SOOTHES MILLIONS OF SOULS
Kitty O'Meara is the poet laureate of the pandemic. Her untitled prose poem, which begins with the line, "And the people stayed home," has been shared countless times, on countless backgrounds, with countless fonts, since its first posting. It was most widely popularized by Deepak Chopra, and has since been shared by everyone from Bella Hadid to radio stations in Australia. The poem has become shorthand for a silver-linings perspective during the coronavirus
outbreak—the hope that something good can come out of this collective state of "together, apart."
The poem begins with the evocative line: "And the people stayed home," and goes on to describe an idyllic version of the months to come. Through O'Meara's lens, the era of social distancing could be taken up by purposeful activity like meditation, exercise, and dancing, and result in a kind of global healing.
The poem reads like a cross between a proverb, Instagram poem, and, if you're feeling optimistic, psychic prediction.
"And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new...read more + see/share/print poem
