Class Creates Community Poem Exploring ‘Resilience in a Pandemic”

A community poem created by students in Dr. Natalie Cort's “Diversity and Cross-Cultural Psychology” course explores the topic of resilience during this pandemic.

"I've been using expressive arts and meditation at the beginning of my classes to ground students,” said Cort. “Each student contributed one phrase reflecting their current perspective, feelings, or wishes. The magic of this activity is the way in which disparate thoughts from different individuals meld into a coherent and collective narrative.”

Thirteen students—Thomas Bell, Laura Cohen, Laura Corbige, Judith Nicole Dayaw, Gabriela Gonzalez, David Klapatch, Sarah Kosa, Allison Lawsky, Sarah Miller, Jehovanie Robert, Mollie Stolzer, Victoria Stout, and Lily Walsh—contributed to the project.

Here is the poem in its entirety:

Resilience in a Pandemic: 2020 Community Poem

Taking each moment one breath at a time,

One day at a time

My resilience has surprised me

As I’m getting comfortable with living with uncertainty

I underestimated the things I took for granted

And I crave control of the things I can’t control

But I’m trying to exercise forgiveness like a muscle and its slowly getting stronger

I have everything I need within me

To get through moment by moment

And I warmly embrace the quiet as if it were a friend

Often when you think you’re at the end of something you’re at the beginning of something else

We are at a distance but closer than ever

We feel gratitude and despair in the same breath

—We are strong, but we need each other

Your faith gives me strength

Strength to believe

So, think happy, be happy.

 

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