- Kitty O'Meara's prose poem inspired by the coronavirus pandemic—which begins with the line, "And the people stayed home," is going viral.
- The poem has inspired thousands of posts on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
- But who is Kitty O'Meara, the mysterious author of this work that has so deeply resonated with people? We spoke to O'Meara herself, and got some answers.
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 ways of being, and were still. And 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.
It's obvious why this meditative poem has resonated so deeply with people: It inserts the idea of individual agency back into something out of our control, and imagines that the time after this will not only exist—it'll be better than before.
Instead, the major mystery has become the identity of its mysterious author, a woman whose online presence boils down to a blog, a Facebook page, and lots of people asking: Who is Kitty O'Meara?
OprahMag.com got answers, catching up with O'Meara (virtually, of course) from her home outside of Madison, WI, which she shares with her five rescue dogs and her "dear one," her nickname for her husband, Phillip. A former teacher and chaplain, O'Meara is now retired.
"It offers a story of how it could be, what we could do with this time," O'Meara tells OprahMag.com of her viral work.
Fittingly, the poem is proof of what O'Meara has chosen to do with herself while social distancing: Write. "And the people stayed home" was written in one sitting, the byproduct of months of built-up anxiety while watching the pandemic brew on the news.
"I was anxious for the past few months. I knew this was coming and I couldn't be of service," O'Meara tells OprahMag.com. After years working in palliative care, O'Meara is especially concerned for her friends who still work in the health care profession and are on the frontlines of battling the virus.
"I was getting kind of sad. There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t help my friends. I was very worried about them. My husband said: ‘Write. Just write again,’" O'Meara recalls.
So, she did. "I just kind of sat down and wrote it," O'Meara says matter-of-factly, crediting "spirit" with the process. "I saw the maps of the receding pollution over China and Europe. I thought, ‘There you go. There’s something of blessing in all suffering.' And I thought with my passionate love for the Earth, maybe that’s one good thing."
Immediately after writing, O'Meara shared this poem with her friends on Facebook. "I post stuff like that all the time. I usually don't get a lot of response," O'Meara says. "But this found its niche."
That's an understatement; the poem resonated with people instantly. Soon, a Facebook friend asked to share the poem with her own followers, and within three days of posting, her husband, encountered the poem elsewhere on the Internet. Kitty O'Meara had officially gone viral.
"Going viral is a free-fall of craziness. I was starting to get messages and texts and every other kind of communication you can receive. [My husband and I] were both laughing. Dumbfounded," O'Meara says about the onslaught.
Since going viral, O'Meara has been flooded with letters from new fans from around the globe sharing how her words provided them with solace. "It’s just amazing," O'Meara says. "I saw going viral as a gift to me. I was able to offer spiritual care."
She's also received the scrutiny and vitriol that comes with an increased internet presence. Irene Vella, an Italian journalist, claims that O'Meara's work is a translation of her own poem. O'Meara denies those claims. Vella's poem, written in Italian, is also inspired by coronavirus, but is apparently different, per the translation.
"I believe the same spirit is moving through artists and we're interpreting this suffering, and fear, and anxiety in ways that are bound to echo feelings and ideas being expressed in other ways," O'Meara says, of the poems' thematic resemblance. (OprahMag.com reached out to Irene Vella for comment, but had not heard back as of publishing time.)
Internet drama aside, O'Meara has gained a passionate following in the past week. While O'Meara has "always considered herself a writer," the response to this "mini-reflection," as she calls it, is an encouragement to keep writing—especially through the age of coronavirus. "Write, that’s what you do. So that’s what I’ll do. I’ll keep writing," O'Meara says. "We have gifts. It’s a good reminder that whatever your gift is, and however small it is, keep using it. This is a really good time for that."
These 15 minutes of internet fame won't change O'Meara's approach to writing, which has always been intensely personal. She wasn't seeking online fame when she wrote, "And the people stayed home," and isn't now—in fact, imposter Instagram accounts are already popping up to fill the void of O'Meara's online presence.
"Going viral is something I'll be turning over and sifting through for a long time. I can't label it and put it on a shelf right now. I hope it’s over, because that’s not what I ever longed for," O'Meara says. She also admits the experience of so many people reading her work is somewhat "embarrassing."
"For me, it’s time to go back to my writing. It’s time for other people to put their creativity and contributions forward," O'Meara says. As such, O'Meara encourages her new fans to activate their own creative sides.
"I would invite people to pick an art form and go for it. People say, 'All my life, I wanted to do this, I wanted to do that.' That’s another huge gift of this time. Play with those things. Might be a dancing thing. Might be a work out thing. Might be a knitting thing. Might be visual art. This is the time. Do it," O'Meara encourages.
To O'Meara, this is a time rife with frustration—as well as the potential for transformation, as her poem demonstrates. "We can wallow where we are or we can see the invitations. Anything that you can tap into that allows your feelings to be expressed creatively will do that for you. You will feel better on the other end of it. You will be changed," she says.
O'Meara is not an expert on dealing with this global crisis, she says. She's just another person, trying to find grace in the free-fall.
"I don't want people conferring any guru status on me, because I fumble around just like anyone else. I’ve always written from my heart. I’ll continue to do that."
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