Kind words, warm heart

The project was further inspired by the events of Jan. 6 at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., and the stirring inauguration poem by Amanda Gorman that captured the moment.

“We thought, ‘What the world and Pennsylvania really need is words of kindness,’” Ms. Byers says.

Ms. Mayson thought, “This is right up my alley” when asked to serve as the poet who would pull it all together. “I love anything that engages people who are not ordinarily engaged in the spoken word of poetry.”

She likens creating one poem out of what could be hundreds or thousands of messages to putting a puzzle together (a really hard puzzle). “But a poem doesn’t have to be perfect,” she says.

After the year that was 2020, it’s not an easy act for some to see life at the end of the tunnel. “We need joy,” she says, and if the end result on Nov. 13 moves one person to move beyond grief or life changes, “that means a lot.”

The messages can be posted on social media in video, text or image formats with one proviso: Posts must include the hashtag #PAKindnessPoem and mention the Pennsylvania Humanities Council. People of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to participate, along with authors, CEOs, TV personalities and sports figures. The project launched on Feb. 17 with a video from Pennsylvania’s second lady,Gisele Fetterman.

Ms. Byers says they are looking for anything that conveys a message of kindness — a quote, a song lyric, a line from a book or even just a few nice words.

“It’s whatever people feel, which is easy.”

Submissions will be accepted until Aug. 31. More info can be found online at pahumanities.