Inner Circle to create song from winning poem - Close to 100 entries for Circle of Light contest

IT IS said that every cloud has a silver lining, and that could still hold true, even in the midst of a terrifying global pandemic. Despite COVID-19, the cycle of life continues, and out of it has sprung forth an inspiring poetry competition, titled Circle of Light, the brainchild of Ian Lewis, co-founder of Grammy Award-winning reggae band Inner Circle.

Lewis told The Gleaner that with things on lockdown, he wanted to connect with fans and do something that was a bit different. So he decided to explore this art form to generate some excitement and then take things to the next level by turning the winning poem into a song. The competition was launched using social media on April 27. Inner Circle will pick up the 10 best poems submitted and the public will decide the winner, via social media.

“Poetry explores something deep inside the human being, and this is what we want to get out. It doesn’t have to be about the COVID-19 or anything related to it. We do not have a special theme. The aim is the get persons to write, and it doesn’t have to be an individual effort, the whole family can enter a poem,” Lewis explained.

DIG DEEP

Warming to his topic, he added, “Poetry, as a form of literature, uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language. The poem is an expression, and that is what we want to evoke. Spiritually, we have to dig deeper, because prophecy is something that we cannot stop the fulfilment of. We therefore have to go deep into our own souls. Don’t worry about trying to make it in perfect English, for example, just write out of your emotions. Inner Circle will then put melody to the lyrics of the winning poem and create a song that can be downloaded for free,” the ‘Bad Boy’ of reggae said.

Lewis said that the response so far has been very good, with close to 100 entries already being submitted. “We have persons from Poland and Germany sending in their poems. We want the Jamaican poems to start coming in. You know that when we tek on something we have to extend it. Just like how we took poetry and came up with dub poetry. Write how yuh feeling, the true feeling from inside,” Lewis exhorted.

Certainly not used to the distancing that is a vital part of this virtual ‘new normal’, Lewis is forced to embrace innovation as never before, pointing out that social distancing has made social media the universal telephone. “Live-streaming is great, but 50 per cent of any live show is the people giving you, the artiste on stage, the gasolene, and you using that to take your performance higher. We have to recognise that things will never be the same. Artistes will have to get creative in how they reach out to their fan base. Change the thinking of ‘me’ to ‘we’, and embrace the fact that we are our brothers’ keeper,” Lewis said.

DRIVE-IN CINEMA

He mentioned a club and a DJ in Germany who creatively circumvented social-distancing rules by hosting a show in a drive-in cinema recently. According to reports, Club Index opened its car park to 250 cars, with each allowed two people inside, giving 500 clubbers the opportunity to experience live club music for the first time in months. Danish singer Mads Langer also did a sold-out performance in the Danish city Aarhus, selling 500 tickets to fans who could watch from their cars. The concert itself was transmitted to the cars via FM radio, and fans also had the opportunity to interact with Langer using Zoom, the video-conferencing software.

“We will have to think about staging something like that. Some of us can remember going to the drive-in and parking close to a speaker. Our artistes have to realise that now is not a playtime. Fear and faith begin with the same letter, but they are two different words. We have to have faith in the Master. I have written a song about all of this already. It will be out in the next two weeks.”

The Circle of Light Poetry Competition closes on May 18. Interested persons are asked to send audio or video versions of their poems to Icpoemcontest@gmail.com. “To everyone, good luck and many blessings forever,” was the statement from Inner Circle to their fans on social media.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com