NZ-born poet’s vision of a better world post-pandemic goes viral
She’s not perfect, she’s not a prophet, but she’s doing a very good job.
Tomos Roberts on Jacinda Ardern
Finally, something good about Covid that’s spreading across the world.
A New Zealand-born poet’s bedtime fairytale video, The Great Realisation, has already racked up more than three million views on YouTube.
Tomos Roberts — aka Tom Foolery — thinks the world will be a better place after the coronavirus pandemic than before, explaining it in feelgood form in the four-minute clip.
Among the millions of fans worldwide, the poem has struck a chord with A-list celebrities in Hollywood such as Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore and Kristen Bell.
Actor Jake Gyllenhaal has asked Roberts if he would like to convert the poem into a children’s book — and that is also being arranged.
In the optimistic, forward-looking poem, Roberts speaks to a child about how the world was before the virus took over.
People were too dependent on technology, there was rampant overconsumption, and global warming was a major problem.
But as the pandemic struck and people were forced into lockdown, they started to speak to each other a lot more, especially loved ones. The planet started to recuperate as factories and industries paused.
Shutting down much of the world for the past month had provided a great opportunity to rejig the world order, Roberts told the Herald.
“Let’s think constructively: Are there steps that we can take as individuals or as societies that would lessen the suffering of people and increase the joy?” he said.
“If you were going to aim for something, I think that would be a nice place to start and you can see what happens after that.”
Born in Auckland to Welsh parents travelling the country, Roberts now lives in the UK.
He was excited to be doing an interview with a New Zealand media outlet, he said, because of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. “She’s not perfect, she’s not a prophet, but she’s doing a very good job.”
Due to the lockdown in England, he said he was able to get to know his younger siblings Cai and Sara better than at any other time in the last seven years. The child in the video is his younger brother.
Roberts said he was not looking for a pat on the back for his work and was most excited about the millions of people who were taking on the poem’s ideals.
“Millions of people [are] saying I am prepared to subscribe to the idea that an optimistic outlook might be a better strategy,” he said.
“From what I know of the past, there have been some incredibly dark times that people have been able to overcome.
“All I think it takes is to be able to access a ray of hope — it doesn’t have to be a big amount.”