What is it?
Dear Vaccine is a global community poem, inviting all to share their voices to promote COVID-19 vaccination through the imaginative language of poetry.
The Global Vaccine Poem project is a collaboration between the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University, housed in the College of Arts and Sciences & The University of Arizona Poetry Center, housed in the College of Humanities.
Get Involved
01
Share Your Voice
Read the model poem “Dear Vaccine” written by Naomi Shihab Nye, then choose a prompt to respond to. Add a few lines of your words. Don’t worry about rhyming, don’t worry about grammar or spelling. Simply share your thoughts.
02
Watch the PBS Newshour
Citizen poets share details of their pandemic lives in ‘Dear Vaccine’
03
Get the Book
This April, which is National Poetry Month, Kent State University Press is releasing a moving new collection of poetry penned by people around the world sharing their experiences and responses to the pandemic. Dear Vaccine: Global Voices Speak to the Pandemic is a full-color volume of over 150 poetry submissions which come from all 50 states and 118 different countries.
Dear
Vaccine
By Naomi Shihab Nye
Young People's Poet Laureate,
Poetry Foundation
Naomi Shihab Nye
Save us, dear vaccine.
Take us seriously.
We had plans.
We were going places.
Children in kindergarten.
So many voices, in chorus.
Give us our world again!
Tiny gleaming vials,
enter our cities and towns
shining your light.
Restore us to each other.
We liked our lives.
Maybe we didn’t thank them enough.
Being able to cross streets
with people we didn’t know,
pressing elevator buttons,
smiling at strangers,
standing in line to pay.
We liked standing in line
more than we pretended.
It’s a quick prick in the arm
You’ll barely notice it
It’s the gas in the car
Getting us going again
It’s the turn in the road
Face-to-face conversation
someday soon?
It’s the hug. Forever,
it’s the hug!
Vaccine, please make the air clean!
We went to yoga classes,
deep collective breathing,
in small rooms in cities
where we didn’t even
live! How brave we were.
Vaccine, please.
Restore our lives.
Believe they were beautiful.
Find a Vaccine Location
Vaccine Finder
VaccineFinder.org is a resource provided by Boston Children’s Hospital. Follow the link below to find a vaccine location near you.
In the Media
USA TODAY
“‘Dear vaccine’: A poem written by the world helps make sense of the COVID-19 pandemic”
Akron Beacon Journal
“Dear COVID-19 Vaccine: You’re invited to pen a stanza for Global Vaccine Poem”
Tucson.com
“Commemorate your COVID-19 vaccine in poetic fashion with University of Arizona project”
Earth Institute Sunday “Arts and Hearts” with Andy Revkin
“Dear Vaccine…”
Join the Kickoff of a Global Vaccine Poetry Project
Kent State University
“Art and Hope Intersect: Kent State and University of Arizona Launch Global Vaccine Poem Project”
University of Arizona
“Reflect on the COVID-19 Vaccine in a Poem, and Share it With the World”
AZCENTRAL.COM
“‘Dear vaccine’: A poem written by the world helps make sense of the COVID-19 pandemic”
News 5 Cleveland
‘Dear Vaccine’ — You're invited to contribute to a global poem about the COVID-19 vaccine
Ohio Arts Council
Resilient Ohio: Global Vaccine Poem Receives Responses From Around the World
Spectrum News 1
Kent State, University of Arizona partner on global poem called ‘Dear Vaccine’
Create meaning from hardship.
Hope abundantly.
Heal with humanity.
The Global Vaccine Poem project is a collaboration between the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University & The University of Arizona Poetry Center. It offers an inclusive and participatory opportunity during the universal vaccination experience, inviting all to share their voices and promote COVID-19 vaccination through the imaginative language of poetry.
The Global Vaccine Poem project is inspired by Naomi Shihab Nye and her global advocacy for the power of poetry. Nye was named the Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation in 2019.
About
Traveling Stanzas community arts projects bring poetry to people’s everyday lives through innovative methods and digital platforms.
Learn more at TravelingStanzas.com
All content copyright 2021 Traveling Stanzas
with additional support from the Offices of the President and Provost at the University of Arizona and the Kent State University College of Arts and Sciences.