Hiram Larew: the COVID Poetry & Art Project
Hiram Larew is a Maryland-based poet who is committed to using words to make the world a better place. After retiring from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (where he actually helped guide international agriculture programs), he founded Poetry X Hunger, this really cool program that encourages poets to write about hunger and “strives to link the power of poetry to the cause of hunger alleviation in the U.S. and around the world.” While so many struggle to make ends meet during COVID, the fight against hunger is more important than ever, and we’re thrilled to share Hiram’s words with our readers!
Spoons or Rakes
by Hiram Larew
What we need now
is glow —
The sort of night that embers make
The sound in nests
or apples’ shapes
A glow that gives more than it takes
The kind of spoons or rakes
that neighbors love
Those hailing lights from distant shores
that warm the boats
We need the wool of passing years
or more
What holding close does
when so little is near
An earlier version of this poem appeared in North of Oxford’s Pandemic Poetry Online Anthology. It was subsequently published on MikeMaggio.Net as part of the first iteration of the COVID Poetry and Art Project. Read the original COVID Project post here.
Hiram Larew
And Hiram was kind enough to share another poem with us, which embodies a sense of wonder that we might all try to hang onto, or find in small moments during these long days of waiting for normal.
Magic
by Hiram Larew
The stars in your chest —
the sounds of their glow
their flash blink wings
their touch top skies.
These leaps towards light —
these grateful urging holy stars
in your chest and now in your throat.
Their voices of beams
even into your heart and beyond.
Their blaze —
each star that starts in your chest
and spins out from there.
Spins you as nothing else can
as magic comes true
with your chances so inside and out.
With each and every star
so over the moon.
This poem first appeared in Orbis.
Image of Hiram Larew provided by Donna Luhrs.
Chatting with Hiram
Can you tell us a little about this poem and how you came to create it? How has the current crisis (or crises) influenced your art?
The poem was written during the early months of the pandemic as an expression of “Just look at it! There's hope in nature.”
What role do you think the arts play in times of turmoil and uncertainty?
The arts provide an open window that we can lean out of when feeling confined—into the fresh air.
What are you viewing/reading/watching/listening to these days?
One of the wonders of such times is the passport-less opportunity to visit with poets from other countries over social meeting platforms. To hear poets from near and far who I would never have otherwise met—Yes!
Can you tell us more about Poetry X Hunger?
The Poetry X Hunger website now has over 200 poems from poets worldwide posted on it. All of those poems Speak Back to Hunger. And many have been used in whole or in part by anti-hunger organizations, professors, community leaders, hunger specialists and the like. If you have a poem about hunger, feel free to submit it to PoetryXHunger@gmail.com for possible posting on the website.
Someone asked me recently if we are still taking submissions and I replied that unfortunately, as long as there is hunger, we'll be open for submissions. Also, many of the posted poems have an accompanying audio or video of the poet presenting the poem. If you have a chance, I recommend Patience Gumbo’s haunting audio recording of her poem, Hunger. This poet is from Zimbabwe.
Do you have a favorite local writer or artist (DC area)?
The community of poets in suburban Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia is a constant source of inspiration.
About the Poet
Hiram Larew’s poems have appeared widely and have been nominated for four Pushcarts. His Poetry X Hunger initiative is bringing poets and poetry to the anti-hunger cause. He lives in Churchton, MD. Find him on Facebook at Hiram Larew, Poet.