Gratitude for the Zoomiverse
I am grateful for Zoom. It has no doubt been a major contributor to keeping me sane and physically here.
I live a fairly isolated existence, with a number of medical issues and physical limitations without a car or much money or resources, yet through Zoom I can and have shared my songs, poetry, prayers, and thoughts to the far ends of the Earth.
Before the pandemic, I’d had a brief period of notoriety as a poet before becoming a single dad of a multiply handicapped daughter including nonverbal autism and severe mental retardation. A few folks had heard a few of my poems and a couple of my songs (mainly political ones) at local song swaps and open mics. Yet I had hundreds of poems and songs that no one had ever heard. Now because of Zoom, I’ve performed and am welcomed and very favorably received in groups across the globe.
Every day I visit multiple countries and each week I perform in 9 or 10 different countries and have encountered people from an even larger number of countries than that. I’ve talked to a Russian on a zoom in Wales. Heard a Japanese harpist on a zoom in London. Met a Malaysian poet and a Filipino poet on a zoom in Beruit. I even go 5 times a week to a meditation in Mexico and I’ve joined this group as well as dozens across the USA and Canada.
All of this doesn’t even explore the art lectures, comedy performances, dozens of concerts, virtual memorials, film series, YouTube events and more I’ve attended. I do all this without leaving my small bedroom in Greenfield, MA and can still eat whatever foods I like and keep my own timetables.
~ Storm
Storm hails from Greenfield, MA. He is a founder of People’s Music Network for Songs of Freedom and Struggle (currently a member of the steering committee/board of directors) and a founder and one of the original six dancers of Juggler Meadow Morris Men. Poet, songwriter, storyteller, actor, metaphysical minister, social activist, networker, loving dad of a multiply handicapped nonverbal autistic daughter, Asperger’s advocate, Chaplain of The Guiding Star Grange of Greenfield, MA and Western MA Pomona Grange.
many, this cultural reckoning and political upheaval spurred a period of personal reflection and the discovery of coping mechanisms some of us didn’t even know we had. Lockdown Lemonade is a look at the bright side. With this collection of flash creative nonfiction, brief personal essays, recollections, and musings from members of our community, we hope to shine a light on the best things that can and have come out of the most challenging of times. This column will continue on a weekly basis and postings will be released at 10 AM Pacific every Monday, so watch for them! For guidelines and submission details, please contact Julie Zipperer at