Poet Belita Andre wrote a piece of poetry that she hopes raises awareness about Covid-19.
She wrote the poem Stay Safe for the Jameson Mix don't Mingle campaign.
According to Belita, Jameson wanted to create a meaningful message and always collaborates in the cultural space. “I was honoured when they asked me to write a poem for their campaign that urges people to stay safe and act responsibly.
“The initiative was a call of arms with the rest of the world, imploring that we take better care of ourselves.
“I loved that this considered poetry as a medium.
“Which is the role I want it to play in society when that supports how we communicate”, she said.
Describing her personal style and take on poetry, the South African born star who has Namibian and Nigerian ancestry, said: “poetry is a conversation.
“All narrative and ideas expressed using our senses make the art form a two-way street.
“My writing focuses on exactly how feelings, places and experiences connect”.
Commenting on where she drew inspiration for this collaboration, she said, “I considered my own journey during this pandemic.
“Everything was surreal, our realities changed and so our strategy at life also had to change.
“This was magical because it would be considered impossible. And that is what poetry is to me, a series of impossible events”.
Belita said that she hopes when people come across ‘Stay Safe’, their first impulse it to listen.
“I hope when people come across this campaign, their first impulse is to listen. My favourite part about this project was the fact that we could communicate creatively partnering art and everyday reality”, she said.
Stay Safe by Belita Andre
To walk out of a dream and sip on solitary light.
Settling cloth between us as a fabric wall.
The people speak in faces that shift,
content with the dancing caress of new minds.
Tugging at textures, and music, and time.
Loyal and vivid in it’s liquid strides.
So on the incessant question of survival,
regard your life as a lesson, not a rival.
when your chin grazes the belly of a cloud,
returning sight to the horizon,
do not cover the eyes that see,
Or make wound of the mouth that speaks
If your body calls for it…
Make room,
and breathe.
Other ways peek out to teach other,
and break bread in chambers of thought.
A road, clear, if you are willing
to gather and prevent the unseen war.