It Didn’t Have To Be A Pandemic

Restaurants closed for dine-in customers Stay at home ‘til April, then May, then June? No end in sight, but
Lives will be saved by staying away

Yet I can’t shake the yearning
For sharing a meal with the warmth of comradery
The virus is a hiccup
In a timeline of vast cosmic forces
But if measured by missed cups of coffee with a friend It’s been eons

I am learning to be honest
While hiding expressions behind a mask
I am learning to embrace you
And immediately wash my hands
I am learning that it didn’t have to be a pandemic It could have been an ice age or a comet
What matters is who we keep close
While circumstance demands distance

Arturo "Tootie" Alvarez - Pilsen

Superficial

Quarantine has me over-analyzing and assessing which relationships I truly value and which were just “Superficial”. Concluding that there is no value in tending those relationships.

Lassai | @Lassai_- Washington Heights

All the cute penguin videos from the Shedd Aquarium inspired me to draw this comic about their field trips.

Megan Rivera | @meganmrivera - Tri-Taylor

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I'm a first-year graduate student at the University of Chicago. Originally from Maryland and most recently from New York, social distancing has given me space to explore Hyde Park through photography.

Donovan Harvey | @donovanharvey17 - Hyde Park

Aqui Juntos

This mural conveys “We’ll figure it out. Aqui Juntos” as a message. Artists are one of the groups most affected by the pandemic and the dwindling economy. I would like to share two images of the mural in progress. We started yesterday and will likely finish by Monday. Resident artist and sign paintier Shelby Rodeffer and I are painting the mural while practicing social distancing precautions.

Carlos Flores - General Manager at Chicago Art Department | @Chicagoartdept - Pilsen

carlos@chicagoartdepartment.org




National Poetry Month - Prompt 5

The South Side Weekly is taking part in National Poetry Month with its own 30 for 30! Each day, we’ll put out prompts that can get our minds jogging and anyone who wants to join can come along and share their work here by requesting edit access to this document.

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People's Radio - Episode 2

This is South Side Weekly People's Radio. Each week, we'll post audio submissions we get from you. These can be about anything. They can be produced audio pieces, or they can be voicemail dispatches (just dial 331-308-0773). They can be music, or they can be spoken word. For more information on how to submit, visit www.southsideweekly.com/peoples-media. This week's episode featured a poem by Wistar and a dispatch from Grecia. This episode was produced by Erisa Apantaku. The bumper at the beginning was produced by Jed Lickerman. For more news, visit www.southsideweekly.com.

Leave us a voicemail and tell us how you’re coping:  ‪(331) 308-0773‬

To give myself a break from the situation I've been offering to draw post-it note portraits of anyone who wants one. They send me a photo on Facebook or Instagram and I draw a post-it note doodle and upload both. It gives me a tiny break from the news, and a moment of silliness for both the subject of the portrait and for me.

JH Palmer - Irving Park

My college closed as well as both of my jobs so I’ve been doing mostly art and my now online classes. I’m loving the extra time for art and expression but it’s getting a little old. I’m ready to go back to work and school!

Olivia - Hyde Park

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A poem for every dying woman holding it together by a half-severed thread

We live in unprecedented times, but what COVID-19 is exposing is the inherent gendered oppressions that the American capitalist system relies on to continue to maximize productivity above all. Women make up a large portion of the healthcare and teaching workforce. Women are predominantly those that care for the elderly in nursing homes, for children in daycare, for all of it. These same women are now disproportionately bearing the brunt of being on the frontlines, both at home and at work. The fact that domestic violence cases are expected to increase during this time is another piece that just hurts my spirit so much. This piece was inspired by the rage and helplessness I feel right now and where I need to tunnel in order to find some semblance of hope.

A poem for every dying woman holding it together by a half-severed thread ~ By: Sara Rezvi

____________

I have words but I don’t know where to put them I have silence but don’t know how to stay still
I have rage but only these smoky ruins remain Shall I wrap them softly?

Swaddled in burnt ember?

Somewhere in the crawl space of my heart I keep these words

I keep them quiet, I keep them safe

I fear their lighting
— a burnt match
A pathway winking into existence
To a smoldering anger undying, to worlds that I would end with just one glance

Eternal, unvanquished, immortal

They say to women, find your voice

They say to women, find your dignity

They do not warn you no they do not warn you

What happens when you do ---
the only infinity that exists is this rage

I can no longer remember the name of the dish my mother used to prepare — the sucking up of juices of boiled bones

What else can you call
the dripping of
savory blood
down your chin
Except a kind of feral hope?

I'm an introvert so I love being in the house, but being cooped up this long is definitely pushing my limits and making me very irritable. My art is helping me ease some of this stress because it keeps me focused one goal instead of where I can't be.

Simone - Pill Hill

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I've been using this time of solitude to learn more about animation and see how I can integrate my drawings with video/animated stuff.

Megan Diddle - Bridgeport