IPM E-Mail Banner
POETRY PARTNERS:
Their Stories and Work
for Your Inspiration and Application


                                   Summer, 2010                                                              




Summer, 2010
 
Dear Friends,
 
Featured in what follows are four stories by IPM "Poetry Partners" Merna Ann Hecht, Brian Moore, Annie Holden, and Jim Hornsby. They write about their experience of bringing poetry as healer into their communities.
 
Each program received recent funding from The Institute for Poetic Medicine - and in the case of Merna, for last year as well. This funding may have been helped by your donation to IPM!   Without the support of people interested in advancing the work of The Institute, this outreach would not be possible.  Our gratitude for any support is deep.

Atl WC

These are general ways to describe the kind of "populations" we had the privilege to work with:
 
. . . teenagers who, along with their families, are refugees from countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Berundi, Nepal, Somalia and many other places on our planet that have had great trauma;
 
. . . women in recovery from alcoholism and addiction;
 
. . . people with mental health challenges making a connection with trees through poetry - to find deeper balance and self-respect within themselves;
 
. . . men across generations who are homeless, and all of the ways that experience impacts their lives.


 
These stories from our Poetry Partners go far beyond such flat descriptions!  They show you that:
 
. . . creative, passionate, skilled, empathic and talented individuals can make a difference in the lives of others through the sensitive sharing of poetry as healer;
 
. . . every person involved can discover and express more of their unique wholeness; giving voice to body, mind, heart and soul;
 
. . . unexpected blessings and genuine support are found in community when people begin to speak up for what matters to them and also make the sacred choice to deeply listen to one another;

. . . financial support for these projects changes lives, creates a world  of people who breathe with honesty and beauty, even when that beauty and honesty are most fierce;
 



And here's the simple truth
:
 

When a Poetry Partner brings the right spirit and skills to apply poetic medicine,
it brings good benefit anywhere
and with all people.

 


When I founded IPM in late 2005, my motivation came from a deep desire to do more than I could do myself to fulfill these kinds of change.  I needed friends across the country and around the planet who shared in the understanding of what the popular novelist John Grisham recently described so well: 
 
"In life, finding a voice is speaking and living the truth.  Each of you is an original.  Each of you has a distinctive voice.  When you find it, your story will be told.  You will be heard."
 
John Grisham, Commencement Address 2010,
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
 
Through the help of unsung and dedicated people, the commitment of the IPM Board of Directors, the help of generous foundations and people like you, and these wonderful Poetry Partners, we are pleased to present the following report.
 
I have asked each person to describe their experience and gave them wide latitude to express it in their unique voice. You'll learn how they made their programs work to optimum capacity; you'll learn how they, themselves, were changed; and I hope you'll get a sense for how you might also use "poetic medicine" in your work and/or bring it into your community.

These are full stories.  They can't be rushed!  I hope you will set aside some time over the next few days to read and consider them.  
We not only welcome but invite your comments.

Following the Poetry Partner stories, please check out my upcoming schedule.
 
Sincerely,
 
John Fox
President, The Institute for Poetic Medicine
 
Atl WC
P.S.  For information about making a donation to IPM, which is a
tax deductible nonprofit entity, please see the end of this Constant Contact. 


 


A Community of Poets
Foster High School
Seattle, WA

STORIES OF ARRIVAL:  YOUTH VOICES
A COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP POETRY PROJECT
Foster High School
Tukwila, WA


Atl WC

Observations by
Merna Ann Hecht
Project Director & Teaching Artist for Poetry


This is the second year that the Stories of Arrival: Youth Voices Project has partnered with The Institute for Poetic Medicine.  The project is a community collaboration that takes place at Foster High School in Tukwila, WA.  The New York Times lists Foster High School as the most language diverse high school in the country. The students in this year's project have journeyed to the USA from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bosnia, Burma, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Kenya, Laos, Mexico, Nepal, Romania, Russia, Somalia, Sudan, Thailand, Tonga, other parts of the U.S. and Vietnam.
 
When I work as a poet with young people, as I have for both this year's and last year's project at Foster High School, I enter into an agreement that we will get to know each other as deeply and authentically as time and thinking and creating and writing will allow.  During my 2 years of working with these students the words that have come to me repeatedly are "heartbreak" and "love."  The poems they have created pour forth from these two words. 


Merna Ann Hecht (middle) with two Foster High students

Nearly half of the students in this year's project have experienced the effects of war and ethnic conflict. Many of them have lived in refugee camps for years; their families having been displaced by war and violent conflict.  Some of the students wrote in depth about the violence they had witnessed first hand.  Bior from Sudan wrote of his grandmother's death from gun-shots.  In his poem, he speaks directly to his beloved grandmother, asking her "to rest in peace."  And he laments that she is not here to see him grow and learn.  Zakaryia from Somalia wrote of witnessing the rape of one woman by a number of soldiers.  Helbor, who is Karen from Burma, told of soliders entering the villages of her people and of the overwhelming destruction and loss of life that resulted from their invasion.

Even as the students wrote of the effects of war, they did so with a stunning sense of hope.  In both last year's and this year's project, I felt immense gratitude for being able to help the students find words for their important stories and for being present to witness their courage and strength in the face of the many losses they have experienced.

This year and last, as the students wrote poetry about their personal experiences with loss, with war and ethnic conflicts, and many other difficult situations, I observed how they also discovered important things about themselves and about each other.  I noted how they began to take pride in their creative work and how their excitement grew as they tapped into the strength of their voices, and their gifts for using beautiful and powerful language.  As their admiration for each others' work grew, they supported each other in writing about courage in the face of loss and about their faith in their families and in the hope that they will help bring about a safer and more just world.  They became a community of poets who embraced a deep vulnerability with each other, and with mutual support they became proud of publishing their poems and of bringing their voices into public arenas.

For example, last year Huong Vo, from Vietnam wrote:

"I like to enjoy the poetry that our class has made.  We can share our cultures and feelings with each other.  I like to understand more about the life that our friends in the class have suffered before coming to the U.S.  I also want to tell about my beautiful country.  When I write poems, anything that begins appearing deep in my heart helps bring my childhood memories back to life."

And Seth Vyamungu, who is from Congo wrote:

"My dream is to become a poet and to publish a book or books of my own poems."


Atl WC

For the past
two years, a central feature of this project has been
working with o
ne of Seattle's most long-standing and well respected community media arts organizations, Jack Straw Production Studio.  Toward the end of the project the Jack Straw voice coaches visit the classroom and work with the students on preparing them to record one of their poems. We take two field trips to Jack Straw Production Studio, where each student records his or her poem on state of the art equipment for broadcast on KBCS 91.3 radio, a community public broadcast station, committed to bringing diverse voices to public awareness.


Jack Straw also creates a CD of all of the recorded poems for each student.  The students love this experience. Most all of them have not before written poetry. At the beginning of the project they expressed considerable concern about jumping into writing poetry while facing the challenges of learning a new language. Many of them spoke of their shyness and could not imagine reading a poem in front of an audience or recording a poem for the radio. Yet, by the end of the project the students' pride in their work, their enthusiasm for the ability of poetry to allow them to express themselves and their delight in the confidence they gained in bringing their voices to the community was whole-heartedly positive.
 
Bakhtli, who is Turkish from Russia, wrote:
 
"Writing poetry is not easy. The first time I started to write a poem I was so nervous. I had no idea how to write a poem. It is not easy to write what is in your mind.  But now, I have been writing a lot of poems. It is very delightful for me to write or read a poem. It also encourages me to have an opportunity to raise my voice to other people.
 
I learned how to write a poem in stanzas, like a song. In addition I learned that you can write your secrets as a poem. It means you share your feelings with others. ...I learned how people shared their happiness, sadness and love. ...I also want to say that I feel comfortable about reading my poem for the first time to the radio or in front of people.  It also was very exciting for me because it was my first time on the radio. I was so excited writing my feelings because I opened my heart."
 
At the culmination of this year's project we created a beautiful anthology titled Many Voices with One Heart: Voices of Global Youth. We are donating the proceeds from the sale of the anthology to the Refugee Women's Alliance.

Quite a few of the young women and their families in our project are served by this organization, as are refugee women and their families in the larger Tukwila community - a community with the highest percentage of immigrants and refugees in the greater Seattle area.



Within the pages of our anthology many voices have spoken with one heart. While each young poet has told part of his or her unique story based on specific experiences and memories, there are commonalities among the students that do create "one heart." In some poems there are expressions of a heart full of memories and longing for friends, houses, gardens, and relatives that had to be left behind.

Last year, when thinking about the Baghdad of her childhood before the war began Monia Haman from Iraq wrote:

MY LIFE

My life is like a diary book
like a big piece of paper
you can write anything on it
you can draw many things too.

My life is like pencil colors,
there are hot colors,
there are cold colors,
in Iraq we have two seasons
Summer, so hot
Winter, so cold
there are light colors, the bright morning
there are dark colors, the beautiful nights
with a big white moon shimmering
from the far sky,
with bright stars waving to us with a big smile.
 
I remember when I was young, Baghdad at night
was like a big golden box
full of colorful jewels
like a mother trying to protect her children each moment
like a source of love, safety and fun.
But, now she is old, exhausted
vulnerable, dismayed,
grieving for losing thousands
of her strong children.

All because of what?
Because of the Iraqi war. 




And this year Fatima Sami from Afghanistan wrote of her love for her country and her memories of it before the violence killed her father and forced her family to leave:

Memories of My Country

... I remember my country, Afghanistan
Beautiful like a flower in a green garden.
       I remember my school.
I remember my friends and teachers
      Having fun together.
I remember when I was young
      Going shopping with my parents
      Eating strawberry ice cream and lamb kabobs.
I remember my house, big and beautiful
      My room full of colorful toys.
I remember the huge parks
      Running around with my friends Nabila, Masooda and
      Roya.
I remember the blue sky with the sun
      Smiling on us like a mother.
I remember when the sky became cloudy and dark,
      The war started in my country.
      Destroyed everything.
I remember the sound of screaming
      When we five daughters lost our dear father.
I remember my green land
       That became red from the blood of the people.
I remember when I was leaving my country
       With tears in my eyes.


Atl WCIn many of the other poems from both this year and last, there are deep heart's longings for celebrations, colors, smells, sounds and foods of a motherland - village, small town, or city. Still other poems tell of hearts that are filled with loneliness and longing living in a refugee camp, or, hearts that have kept hold of strength, hope and resiliency, even as war, violence, and loss of loved ones have been part of a young life.
 
For example, Bior Duot from Sudan, who I mentioned earlier, wrote:
 
My life is like a wounded soldier in a battle field crying
out for help, but no help arrives; looking for a place to hide
but no place for hiding. I am just a fallen victim who falls
and gets up even though a terrible war surrounds me.

 
My heart cries, but I do not show my emotion,
for a warrior like me,
my courage,
my strength, tell me I have to encourage

the orphans and widows of my country
to hold their heads up for better days.
My lovely country
where hatred and jealousy
create a state of war

that made me a refugee
and left me with nothing

but bad memories.
 
Many years of my life have passed
and I am still nothing but a refugee
who had to stand tall on the tough roads
of his neighboring countries.
 
My life has changed from walking long distances
of the same bleak color.
Now it is another journey filled with multi-colors - black, white
and colors that my grandmother would not recognize
even if she had not been hit with that bullet.
"Rest in peace." I miss her. I wish she was here
in my life now to see me grow.
 
It is bad enough and yet I don't hate anything,
hatred in my life goes only to the reign of terror  
and those who did not let my grandma live her life
to the end.


Atl WC

I can honestly say that I have been more deeply touched by the outpouring of poetry from both years of working on this poetry project than in any other work I have done to date. One of the students wrote to me that this project has allowed her to speak from her "internal heart" and I treasure those words as a touchstone for representing the essence of this project.
 
Not only do the poems from this project bring the reader or listener into an intimate and often heart-breaking arena of the experiences of leave-taking and arrival; they also speak to the dreams of a group of courageous young people from around the world.

Some wish to become doctors or nurses in order to help others. Some want to work to help eradicate poverty. Others want to bring peace and equality to their own countries and by extension they long to help bring about a more peaceful world.
 
Yosef from Ethiopia wrote:
 
      My dream is not having a huge amount of money
      My dream is not having a company
      My dream is not having a striking car
      And not having an attractive house.
My dream is following my heart and achieving my goal
           My dream is making my African brothers and sisters
           smile and laugh by giving them pure water to drink
           and food to eat.

      I am sure first things should come first
                 My dream is caring about peoples' lives
                 Giving them hope and inspiring them to live,

     My dream is helping people who need my hand.


           
And Ai from Vietnam wrote of his dream of becoming a doctor:
 
I want to be a doctor
A doctor can help the people,
Save peoples' lives,
Help the elderly,
And treat babies
 
I want to prepare medicine to help the people
Who are getting dangerous diseases,
I want to go to the poor countries,
To help poor people,
And treat them for free.
Give them food, water and medicine,
To give them a better life.

Bleeding Heart
 

I could not agree more with the sentiments my partner teacher, Carrie Stradley expressed in her introduction to our anthology:
 
For many of these students, the poems capture memories they have left buried or "un-translated." They have shown us all another side of who they are and where they come from, with pride. Through poetry, they've painted pictures of their homes and the circumstances which brought them here. Enclosed in this anthology is not merely a unit on poetry, but their most personal stories and memories.
                                  
It has been a great privilege for me to get to know these young people and to witness the way that poetry has allowed them to give expression and voice to what and who they love and to the memories of places and people they miss.
 
Their vulnerability in writing about the violence they have seen, their refugee experiences, the many layers of what they have lost all enfold into a poetics of hope, of beauty and of courage.
 
At this point in time, just as the project has come to a close, culminating with a spirited and celebratory anthology release party, I have begun to receive letters from the poets. Each letter that I have received so far is a treasure to me.  I love what Yvner from Haiti wrote to me:

"Since my childhood I heard talking about writing poetry but I didn't know exactly how to write or what to do to start writing a poem....you showed me the importance of it, you completely made me feel proud about myself because as an immigrant in the United States, I thought that Americans didn't care about us but I was wrong. You came up with a project for us to write our memories from our homeland. Thank you for that. My advice to you is to keep on doing that beautiful work because it helps the refugee students feel they are not alone and people want to hear from them."
 
I will take Yvner's advice and "keep on doing this beautiful work"; it is an honor to do so.
 
Merna Ann Hecht


Merna Ann Hecht  is a poet, storyteller, and teaching artist.  She received a National Storytelling Network 2008 Brimstone Award for Applied Storytelling for a project using storytelling, poetry, and art in working with children at BRIDGES: A Center for Grieving Children, in Tacoma, WA .  Merna has worked as an artist in residence at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center School , detention centers, and facilities for homeless youth.  She teaches arts and poetry classes for Portland State University and the University of Washington and also presents a course for educators on Teaching for Global Compassion using poetry and integrated arts. She is currently the project director for the Stories of Arrival: Youth Voices project, a community partnership project with IPM and other organizations. In this project, immigrant and refugee high school students, many from war-torn countries, learn to use poetry in order to give voice to their personal stories of leave-taking and arrival. Merna's poetry and essays are published in numerous books and journals.

See Our Special Offerings Below!

CLICK HERE
To Hear Ten of These Youth Voices
Reading Their Poems!



Order Your Copy of
Many Voices from One Heart:
Voices of Global Youth




Help Support the Refuge Women's Alliance

On June 9th we held a culminating event for the Stories of Arrival project. The occasion was the release of our poetry anthology. A spirit of generosity has shaped the entire project and it shone brightly at this event. After a poetry reading highlighting work from the anthology, the students mingled with the audience. Characteristic of their open-hearted goodness, the students not only signed books on their poetry pages, but asked audience members to sign their books! The celebration was a warm and inspiring event and all who attended have expressed a deep appreciation for being able to listen to and meet the poets.
 
We decided to extend the largesse of the project into the community by selling the anthology and donating the proceeds to the Refugee Women's Alliance, (ReWA). This organization serves many of the young women and their families in the project. It is a multi-ethnic, community-based organization that provides comprehensive services in response to the complex needs of refugee and immigrant women and families.

ReWA
advocates for social justice, public policy changes, and equal access to services while respecting cultural values. ReWA's success has been due in large part to the contributions of individual donors. ReWA was the first organization to receive the Distinguished Citizen Award for Human Rights. To date we have raised over $500 and we hope to more than match that amount!
 
Please make a donation by ordering your copy of Many Voices from One Heart: Voices of Global Youth. Each copy costs $24. ($10 for printing costs, a $10 donation to the Refugee Women's Alliance and $4 for mailing).
  
Please make your check for $24.00 payable to
The Institute for Poetic Medicine and mail to:


The Institute for Poetic Medicine
P.O. Box 60189
Palo Alto, CA  94306
(Please indicate "Voices From One Heart"
in the notation area of your check)


Atl WC

Thank You for Your Support!





Writing Our Relationship with Trees
Cascadia Arts and Healing Center
Willamette Valley, Oregon

Our Branches Stretch to Sky:
The Story of Writing Our Relationship with Trees

CASCADIA ARTS & HEALING CENTER
In Collaboration with Laurel Hill Center
Willamette Valley, OR



Observations by Brian W.S. Moore



Listen with your heart and soul.
Read from your past to show what you really are.
I'm a tree.  Hear what I say.
Hear what I am.
Hear what I'm about.

~ Goddess F., workshop participant


The poem, above, written from the perspective of "tree" is an invitation to listen with our heart and soul to the hearts and souls of Trees and other living things.  It is an invitation to put aside mechanistic notions about the nature of existence and to hear the stories of other living beings from their own perspective.  It is about making space to listen deeply as part of this process.

It was out of my desire to cultivate deeper connections between human beings and other living things that I conceived the workshop Writing Our Relationship with Trees.  I also wanted to provide an ecological-oriented expressive arts experience to individuals often under-served on the personal-growth workshop circuit. 

My goal was not to facilitate an intellectual discussion of trees, as one might do in a science class, but to provide a context in which to consider the possibility that trees, as well as other living things, have their own way of being in the world and have something valuable to share with us when we make the time to listen.

Some people might feel uncomfortable with the notion that we can listen to trees in the same way that we listen to human beings.  But listening may be more than hearing with the ears.  It may be running your hand over the bark of a tree and feeling its texture. It may be hearing the sound of the leaves as the wind brushes through them.  It may be noticing the tree's limbs - the way they crisscross and intersect, or embrace the sky.  Or it might be sitting silently at the foot of a tree paying attention to the thoughts, words, and images arising in your mind.  We listen with our whole being.
 


Branches stretch to sky

Tree of life
Pulling heaven down
 
Your roots grasp earth
Feel the pulse
Everlasting rhythm.
 
~ Cathy B., workshop participant
 



Writing Our Relationship with Trees
participants were adults diagnosed with psychiatric disabilities, including depression, PTSD, and schizophrenia, who were interested in exploring personal growth opportunities through poetry as well as their connections with trees.  The workshop took place at Pathways Learning Center, part of Laurel Hill Center, which is a non-profit organization "committed to helping people with psychiatric disabilities make choices and acquire skills that increase their self-reliance and ability to live and work in the community." (From the Laurel Hill Center vision and mission statement.  To read more about the Laurel Hill Center, CLICK HERE).

Atl WC
Brian Moore positioning tree

Pathways Learning Center offers a variety of health and wellness classes as well as job skills training and activities designed to enhance people's leisure, creativity, and spirituality.  My trees workshop consisted of nine two-hour sessions, plus a culminating reading and tree planting ceremony.  There were an average of ten participants per session.
 
To my knowledge, there is currently no writing workshop similar to Writing Our Relationship with Trees.  Other workshops exist in which participants write about trees from an objective perspective, consider their symbolic value, or share memories of them.  In our workshop, we did approach trees from these perspectives, but we took it one step further, moving from an objective-symbolic way of way of relating to a way of mutual respect, in which other beings are recognized for their inherent worth and value and are approached in this fashion. 
 
In other words, we do not approach Trees as objective other, upon whom we seek to impose our own agenda, but as honored other, to whom we offer dignity and respect, allowing them to exist purely and simply as they are.  It was also the way we sought to treat other workshop participants.
 
I'm a Mighty Douglas Fir...
 
I feel rain drops gently touching my branches
The sun rays make the rain glisten like tear drops
         on my branches                            
I'm a Mighty Douglas Fir...
 
I feel the birds building their nests
As they sing out their beautiful songs..
I'm a Mighty Douglas Fir...
 
The crows bark...
The squirrels scamper about
Tickling my roots and making me happy...
I'm a Mighty Douglas Fir...
 
I live through winter after winter...
When the wind howls and bends my branches
And the snow fall weighs me down...
Yet I Live on...
 
~ Karen J., workshop participant


 
 In Writing Our Relationship with Trees, one of my main goals was to use poetry as a pathway to help people explore the possibility that we can relate with trees as sacred beings in and of themselves.  Processes supporting this goal included great and liberal use of the imagination. Participants could, for example, step into the "bark" of a tree and write a poem describing the world from its perspective. 

In tree adoption, participants were to select a tree, with whom they would spend time on a regular basis throughout the duration of the workshop.  As part of this process, they were to observe it, listen to it, "speak to it" through the imagination, reflect upon their connection with it, and write poems reflecting upon that connection.  Participants selected a variety of trees for this task.  Trees included an ash tree near a bus stop; an oak tree outside an apartment window; and a magnolia tree in a back yard:
 
from The Magnolia Tree
 
I'm not sure when I planted my roots here.
I'm guessing thirty or so years ago.
In the Spring I have such beautiful large blossoms
         that are so fragrant.
The smell kisses you in the face when you get near.
When the blossoms fall, the leaves remain,
covering the naked arms and fingers
protruding from my body...
 
~ Rebecca L., workshop participant

 
Another process that I found to be quite useful was what I call tree movements.  This process developed as an outgrowth of one participant's outpouring of emotion.  Expressing extreme frustration about the ill treatment of trees by human beings, the participant, whom I shall call "Lydia," leaped up from her chair during the second workshop session and cried, "Why are we treating trees this way?  What can we do to help them?"  She began moving her arms as she imagined the tree might do if given the opportunity to defend itself from people seeking to harm it.

Acting on instinct, when Lydia had finished moving like her tree, I invited the other group members to stand up, and with Lydia's permission, I invited them to imitate her tree movements.  Then I asked if anyone else had a tree movement they wanted the group to imitate.  Many people took the opportunity, and in subsequent sessions it became part of our opening ritual to imitate the movements of trees.  I have since employed this practice in other writing groups that I facilitate.  It is a wonderful way to release tension; to encourage spontaneity; to build a sense of openness and trust amongst group members; and help people identify in a sensuous way with the branchy beings whom we call Trees.

Transparent
 
blue
         topaz
the skyAtl WC
against
         whispers
of your skin
         O holder
of the ethereal ocean
         O keeper
of the deepest soil
         O transformer
of unknown
         dreams.
 
The goddess
         of furrowed
burls
the fingers
         unfolding
 
~ Karen D., workshop participant

 
Benefits to participants were numerous.  For example, over the nine weeks of the workshop, people began opening up more; sharing more honestly and authentically, listening more attentively; and caring more deeply for one another.  A beautiful example of the latter benefit occurred during the celebratory reading and tree planting ceremony.  One participant, whom I shall call "Val" was anxious about reading her poem in public.  When it came her turn to read, she began having problems with her glasses, making it difficult to share her poems.  Visibly frustrated, she said, "Oh, I don't think I can do this!" 
 
Perceiving Val's frustration, another workshop participant stood up, walked up beside her, and asked, "Would it help if I stood up here with you while you read your poems?"  "Yes it would," said Val, immediately more relaxed.  Then she read her beautiful poems before the audience. This exchange was an outgrowth of our effort to make building community part of the group writing process.


 
Reflecting upon the benefits of the workshop, another participant said, "Writing Our Relationship with Trees... continues to be beneficial to me. It's helped me at times to get out of myself - and my head - and to look around me. I started noticing things more.  The more I look outside of myself, the less I get lost in my symptoms of depression..."

Another participant shared that the workshop had given her the motivation to explore her thoughts and feelings about trees while listening to other peoples' beautiful poetry.

Goddess F., a workshop participant who has a deep and abiding reverence for the earth, writes in one of her poems, Trees are Magical to Me:

"...You are magical to me in every way possible
When I'm near you
You cure me of my depression
You turn my frown into a bright glowing smile
You give me hope in every way possible
You give me the courage not to give up on life
Because you are here with me..."
 



Participation in Writing Our Relationship with Trees was not a magic cure for people, nor was it intended to be.  Many of those who participated will go on living with their afflictions for the remainder of their lives.  But if through participation in this workshop people learned to better express feelings and emotions; if they learned to express themselves more authentically, honestly, and boldly; if they learned to appreciate themselves more deeply, not only as people connected with their peers as part of a writing community, but as part of a broader, ecological community of life on earth, then I think we have accomplished something.

 



I hug the green leaf

tree and feel
a newness in me.
 
~Lynne S., workshop participant




Brian Moore  holds an MA in Transformative Language Arts from Goddard College, in VT, and a certification in poetry therapy. Rooted in Oregon's Willamette Valley, he facilitates Healing Landscapes, Writing Our Relationship with Trees, and other groups exploring the connections between the expressive arts and deep ecology. He also facilitates Poetic Pathways and Journal to Wholeness at the Pathways Learning Center, in Eugene, and developmental writing groups at the University District, Johnson Unit, of Eugene's Sacred Heart Medical Center.






2100 LAKESIDE SHELTER
Cleveland, OH

FINDING VOICE
At 2100 Lakeside Shelter
Cleveland, Ohio


Observations by
Annie Holden

The Place Where We Begin
 
It is a small band of us involved in a poetry workshop at a local men's shelter in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.  A fledgling enterprise, we are learning how to choose poems and how to help varying groups of men engage with the material and each other.
 
It is an activity loaded with surprise, possibility and wonder. As John Fox's poetry workshops have taught me before - never underestimate the power of words and those who give them voice.
 
2100 Lakeside is the largest men's shelter between New York City and Chicago. At first glance, it is a maze of hallways and doorways. I felt I needed breadcrumbs to find my way back to the entrance! Cinder block walls are covered in brightly colored posters and flyers, directing men to workshops, activities and events.
 
Everyone greets us, offers to help carry bags, give us directions. We feel welcomed.
 
Recently we've begun the habit of touring the facility and personally inviting the men we meet to the workshops. Gathering in the cafeteria during the lunch breaks and talking to men at each table has also proven effective. We try to reach out to every resident.
 
Our group has doubled in size from the first spring session last May - from 14 to 28 participants so far. Because the nature of the facility is to move men on to independence, we cannot count on seeing the same participants from session to session.

Words You Can Live In

In a recent session, we worked on a poem by Susan Windle:

Words So LargeAtl WC

There are words so large
you can live in them.

Isn't it a comfort to know
your fear
is not th biggest thing?

Always, always, if you listen,
a sound will form
around your fragile life.

You can move and breathe
within the dark, expansive
walls of this world.

You can feed
on the juice of its sound.


We asked for words in response to Windle's poem.  The following words were spoken out loud by the men and written on a dry erase board:

Hate, miracles, individual, philosophy, overwhelming, inspiring, overcome, humble, power, resistance, no, fragile, please, together, independence, believe, freedom, faith, hero, desire, lies, enjoy, perception, miracles, influence, escape, homelessness, peace, money, mobility, compassion, oppression, balance, perspective, respect, nurturing, unconditional, joy, if, midnight, retaliation, but, mistakes, space, love, change, permanent, truth.

The men were then invited to write their own poems based on these words.

Sam wrote:

It's a word that was not
mentioned in this session. We all
know it, the word is depression.
I do live and move in its sound,
a surge.
 
The sound I hear is the sound
of a dirge.
 
Roosevelt wrote:
                                

Responsibility thick overwhelming
overcome Hate no lies
believe Freedom faith peace miracles
together please enjoy Love
escape homelessness oppression mistakes
midnight.

 


David
wrote:  
                                                                                                                                                                             In retaliation of the darkness at midnight

The sun brought us joy with its light.
In our fragility of the darkness at midnight
The sun brought us the freedom of sight.
In the oppression of the darkness at midnight
The sun brought us the desire to fight.
And with influence of the sun's miraculous might
There was no more fear in the darkness at midnight.
 

In the last few minutes of the workshop, a man raised his hand and asked, "What does this have to do with recovery?" We learned, to our chagrin, that some of the men had been "required" to attend by their group leader and this man had assumed that the workshop was specifically related to his recovery process.

Before we could collect ourselves to respond, a previous participant, Kenny, pointed to the dry erase board in the front of the room and said emphatically,
"Every word on that board has to do with recovery, man."  We couldn't have wished for a more perfect response.

 
Kindred Spirits with Various Gifts and Skills

Three of us formed the nucleus of Finding Voice (a name brainstormed at our first meeting...after all, aren't we all seeking our inner voice?). We were students of John Fox, as workshop participants. He brought us to the shelter in late May where we were scribes in his one-day poetry program. We were so profoundly moved by the experience that we agreed on the spot to continue poetry writing at the shelter on a bi-monthly basis.

The Institute for Poetic Medicine, with support from The Kalliopeia Foundation (CLICK HERE to learn more about Kalliopeia), provides funding for our program.  We are a combination of volunteers and funded facilitators.  Some funding goes toward refreshments and snacks for the men - an important element!


Pictured Left to Right:
Jack Schierloh
- Listener & scribe for poetry project;
Lydia Bailey - Volunteer Coordinator at 2100 Lakeside;
John Fox 
- President of The Institute for Poetic Medicine

 
Julie, a part-time children's therapist; Jack, a retired pastor, and I, a recently unemployed bookstore manager and lover of words, met several times to formulate our approach. At a downtown caf�, we took turns reading poems aloud to each other and discussed their viability for homeless men.

The biggest challenge was to choose poetry that would relate to the men's experiences, and at the same time challenge them, interest them, bring them fresh perspectives and ideally some solace.  A tall order-- and where to start?  There is a vast ocean of poetry available and we could drown in it, but we discovered that everyone has favorite poets and a treasure-trove of poems stored up, so that's where we started, along with the assistance of a collection of poetry John had assembled for some of his workshops.

We next added to the group a woman experienced in teaching English in diverse settings, who has a profound love and knowledge of poetry. Martha started as a scribe, but quickly became instrumental in the process of selecting works and providing dynamic exercises to draw the men more easily into the process of writing.  Martha introduced the concept of choral reading which has been very powerful. And Eileen, an art therapist and nurse, and keen observer and thoughtful commentator, rounds out the group at five.



From Left to Right
:
Lynne Albert (student volunteer); Annie Holden, leader of Finding Voice; Julie Michaelson, leader of Finding Voice; Lydia Bailey, Volunteer Coord. at 2100; Jack Schierloh, leader of Finding Voice. 
Behind Lydia is Michael Sering, Director of 2100 Lakeside. 
Behind Jack is Mike Green, part of administrative staff at 2100



I Know Exactly How You Feel, Man
 
Like tightrope walkers, we approach the process with caution and care to find the "right" poems for this special group of men. On one hand, it is easy enough to find poems about loneliness, suffering, and hardship and we felt it was important to acknowledge this aspect of their lives and yet, we also wanted to explore imaginative, hope-filled, creative possibilities with them.

Self-esteem is a thorny issue. In the case of men at low points in their lives - being homeless, frequently jobless, mostly without family or friends nearby - to provide a forum for speaking and listening to each other was our main objective.
 

 

We have set few restrictions for ourselves on the poetry we review for presentation to the men. We do not let age, gender, historical period, or nationality determine what we select. We try to keep them a manageable length, never more than a page. So far we've used the poems of Rumi, Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, a third grader, Langston Hughes, teenage boys, Mary Oliver, Carl Sandburg, Denise Levertov and William Stafford, very successfully.

 
The "class" is diverse-in age, birthplace, race, education, religion and life experience. I am surprised by the number of young men who show up, somehow expecting only middle-aged and older men to be homeless. Veterans from the Vietnam War and the Gulf War attend. Many parts of the country are represented, especially the deep South.



A few are regular writers and have poems committed to memory. There are those who deeply and quickly engage. Some sit quietly and only observe, never saying a word, but may take with them the copies of the poems we've provided.

 
At our first workshop, I witnessed a man who stated at the start that he wasn't the type to share or reveal himself but wanted to see what the workshop was like. Midway through the morning, he not only shared a poem he had written but broke down during his reading of it. Immediately, another man in the room responded with words like "I know exactly how you feel, man. I hear you. I got nobody too."

Atl WCThe connection was instantaneous and profound. Everyone in the room sat silent and full of feeling. For men who may have nothing else in their lives for the moment, the importance of communication provides a connection. In the words of Czeslaw Milosz, "Language is the only homeland." The workshop men speak and are heard. This is the heart of the process.

 
Kevin is a young man who has been writing since he was 12. When we introduced Carl Sandburg's poem, Wilderness
(CLICK HERE to read it) we spent time talking about animals and how they can represent feelings and then invited the men to write poems about animals they personally identified with.

Writing in a New Voice, Talking to Grief, Don't Ever Give Up on Living

Atl WC
Kevin
wrote the following poem and was very excited by the experience of writing in a new voice. He declared that all of his previous writing had been in the first person because he was mainly journaling and writing poems about his feelings and hadn't tried writing from an "outside perspective".

          


I AM THE LEOPARD

 
I am the leopard
Walking on the grass
With soft paws
Smelling the smells with my nose
Managing the sounds with my pointing ears
With my spots you can tell my years.
 
I am the leopard
Hiding in the trees in the daylight
Biding my time for the night light
Staying away from the prying eyes
They say I'm soft but they're telling lies.
 
I am the leopard
Roaming free by myself
I must take my feed high in the trees
For the bigger cats will not climb towards the leaves
Hiding in the forest they could be worse.
 
I am the leopard
My coat is salt and pepper
Teeth and tongue even as a cub
I've clawed and purred with soft fur
I could be cute or I could be a brute
Only time will tell and bear fruit.
 
 
In a recent workshop, we began with Denise Levertov's Talking to Grief  (CLICK HERE) in which she describes grief as a stray dog. It so immediately resonated with the group that the men shared their interpretations, reactions and feelings for an hour without pause. Using a dry erase board at the front of the room, Martha recorded phrases and ideas the men voiced. For example:
    
     It = a life lesson.
 
     What = lurking under your porch. Grief? Or...
 
     Being alone, feeling rejected. Could be invisible but someone
     opened the door for me.

 
     People come to me and it leads to a transformation, acceptance.
 
     I think I am walking and no one sees me then maybe someone
     discovers me.


Since we cannot predict what will invite deep interest, nor for how long, we plan each session with what we hope are enough poems and writing activities for each of the two hours set aside for the workshop, then open ourselves up to whatever transpires. We have spent over an hour on one poem, and, other times, three poems in one hour.

We carefully follow the flow of discussion so that we are appropriately responsive to the men. Our efforts focus on the most valuable use of the time at hand and our goal is meaningful, lively discussion. But it has become quite clear that we are merely catalysts to the process of homeless men listening and responding to each other.

 

The mutual respect that they exhibit towards each other is extraordinarily beautiful.
  As Martha astutely observed following a recent workshop:
 
"Sometimes - actually, quite often - I wonder what it is we do in that place and space. I truly do not believe that it is anything we DO. Rather it is something that we try to set-up, scaffold, allow."

A Poem from Daryl, a Participant:

 
We all have bad days, and we wonder how
We're going to make it through;
 
Well it starts with not what you say,
But with what you do.
 
So don't sit and drown in your own sorrow
And feeling blue.
Because no matter how worthless or
Meaningless we think our life is-there's always
Someone out there that needs you.
 
So don't ever give up on living.
Put down that gun and put down that knife
Because you can still save yourself along
With someone else's life.
 
Being Present With Each Other

There is nothing more profound than being in a "safe place" where judgments are not passed and one's thoughts and feelings can be expressed openly. It is not meant to be a classroom situation and we restate that at the beginning of each workshop. Our sole purpose is to explore, share and be present with each other.

It seems simple enough, and yet the turbulence and instability of everyday life (for homeless men in particular) rarely permits such moments.

As Rita Dove has observed:
"By making us stop for a moment, poetry gives us an opportunity to think about ourselves as human beings on this planet and what we mean to each other."

How frequent are the opportunities to be heard? Unfortunately, all too rare. Our mission as
Finding Voice is to provide a forum where homeless men can express themselves and be heard.

A Review of  June, 2009 - June, 2010:

It's been a year of reading, writing, sharing and discussing poetry at 2100 Lakeside Avenue Men's Homeless Shelter. Finding Voice or "the Poetry Ladies" as we are more often referred to, has built a niche, a following, in the large cement block compound, a homeless shelter for men, in downtown Cleveland.

Atl WC

We have learned to relax a bit and trust the process more completely. Expanding the repertoire of poems used in the workshops, we've experimented with Neruda, Naomi Shihab Nye, Lucille Clifton, Hafiz and Rumi, Elizabeth Bishop, Stevie Smith. The men trust and respect us and respond willingly.

We've also adjusted to the fact that each group has some repeat participants  and a new crop of faces. The "regulars" help guide the new folks (e.g. we have the "rule of two" which is that all writing has to be read twice, and our repeat writers remind the new men of this in a humorous, supportive way).  They help pave the way to the sense of trust, mutual respect and safety in the room.

A workshop rarely ends without someone commenting on the enjoyment and value of the two hours he has just spent in the company of the women and his peers. And we all nod in agreement. We've all experienced something new as well as a heightened sense of awareness of the world around us.



Atl WCAnnie Holden was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, where childhood reading was her escape.  She spent time on the east coast, as well as in Denmark and Britain before resettling in the Midwest.  She wanted to be traveler, but discovered that the world presents itself to her every day through the people she meets, works with, reads about, and views online or at the movie theater.  Reading and writing have always been a part of who Annie is.  She came to poetry later in life while managing bookstores all around the city.  Laid off from a bookstore managerial post last year, she agreed to be a scribe for John Fox's workshop at 2100 Lakeside Men's Emergency Homeless Shelter.  She fell in love with the process, people and place, and has found where her heart meets her head.  She has continued the poetry workshop, with no end in sight! 






PROJECT STAR
San Diego, CA


Cultural Circle Poetry Workshops
Project Star
San Diego, CA



Observations by Jim Hornsby, MA, LMFT

Cultural Circle PoetryWorkshops (CCPW) blend indigenous philosophies (more traits, attitudes, and values than philosophies) with the learning theory of Kurt Lewin, and the Dunn & Dunn cross-cultural theories of teaching and counseling.

In CCPW all students are welcome and equal no matter culture or color of skin (inclusion). All students sit in the circle (the we vs. the I), and all students regardless of sex, religion, or race have the right to tell their own story (equality & tolerance).

When you, the artist, truly embrace the gift you were born with and live your art, opportunities present themselves like no other. Opportunity knocks on random doors. Answer the knock. It's the best thing that will ever happen to you.

Case in point: I went down to San Diego's World Beat Center, run by the dynamic, effulgent Makeda Dread. I was looking for a conga class to indulge myself in Afro-Cuban rhythms. I knew griot ancestors told stories to these rhythms and I wanted to connect with the spirit of, as Malidome Som� might say, the wood of the drum, the skin of the drum, and the song of the drummer.

There were a lot of women running around the center. They seemed to be excited about something. Perhaps they were there for a conga class. Perhaps the diversity of the building exterior and interior - wall to wall art, floor to ceiling colors from a hundred cultures, added to their excitement. I flagged down a young woman who was passing by like a low flying jet and asked if she was there for a drumming class. She said no, she was there with a women's recovery home, Project Star.

All the women were recovering from alcohol and drug addiction. I remembered my 25 years as an alcohol and drug counselor. I remembered my 9 years facilitating mens groups in the Mytho-Poetic men's movement. I heard a knock on the door.

Is your manager here?

The young woman pointed me to a table where a young, friendly looking black woman sat with some other women. I walked up to her and asked if I could facilitate a pro bono poetry workshop at Project Star once a month. She took my card and said she'd get back to me after she talked to her board of directors. She called me two days later and CCPW began at Project Star. It was the summer of 2008.

I found the model worked at the Indian Reservation Charter School (2002), in the youth lockups (2005 to the present), and now at a women's recovery home. I found giving my gift away made my presentations spiritual in nature, poetic in heart, clear in consciousness. Then another knock was heard at the door.

Atl WCThe women in Project Star are fresh out of prison. They are sick in body, mind, emotion, and spirit as only a human being ill with addiction can be. They have no money. The bed that shelters them is paid for in humanitarian funds. But they have no necessities. No toothbrush. No toothpaste. No hairbrush. No clothes. No feminine products. No amenities. About the time I became aware of these poverties my e-mail account was pirated.

The pirates, ironically from the West Coast of Africa, tricked me into giving up my password, then took over my account and e-mailed all my addresses saying I was trapped in Africa and needed $1800 to escape. John Fox called me at home to check up on my well-being and after I assured him I was in San Diego, I told him about my pro bono work with Project Star.  John insisted I should be paid and I resisted.

John was adamant that I be paid and persuaded me to wait until he talked to the board of The Institute for Poetic Medicine. After several months of donating my time, I became the recipient of a stipend for each workshop.

The women took to the writing like the starving to a meal. The CCPW model places the spirit of 15,000 years of indigenous wisdom in the room. The CCPW model places the spirits of Kurt Levin's learning theory, and the best of cross-cultural, multi-cultural research in the room.

The women wrote about losses, wounds, hopes, fears, broken hearts and healing hearts. The women wrote about the extreme ups and downs of early sobriety. The women wrote about the gorilla. You see, when anyone, male or female is trying to stop an addiction, its like trying to stop making love to a 500 pound gorilla. You are not through until the gorilla is through.

Atl WC

CCPW was a vehicle for the women to tell their stories about the gorilla and the wreckage of their dis-ease. Project Star women alcoholics and addicts, workshop after workshop, continued to produce strong poetry of recovery. As the women moved through the workshops they grew as writers, as people recovering language, recovering expression, recovering hope, recovering dignity.

As they began to make better decisions about writing, they began to make better decisions about life. They were also receiving help from the supportive structure and counseling of Project Star to grow as women of sobriety.

This writing that led to personal growth was accomplished in spite of clinical evidence of early sobriety symptomatology that includes mood swings, attention deficits, depression, confusion, sleep disturbance, low self-esteem, self-loathing, despair, and, among a few, suicidal ideation. Most of the women wrote their stories and wrote well. CCPW continually creates cohesion among the women, including bonding around recovering from the above devastating symptoms.

When they were informed that an anthology was going to be published which would provide necessities for new arrivals, they seemed to remember their own first days fresh from prison with nothing but the clothes on their back They wanted to help other women ease into the first days at Project Star. They seemed proud to help another woman in this way. . . such a beautiful example of escaping the selfishness of addiction and being of service to others.  One of the secrets of successful recovery.



In the summer we sit on the front porch
The sun's last rays bright in the forest.
My great pyrenese & mastiff pup runs circles
amongst the trees, then tires on my feet.
Lemonade is served on ice very graciously.

~ Marcia T.

The women's poetry also expresses existential themes of early recovery from addiction: the search for identity without drugs or alcohol, the wish to repair the wreckage of the past; regrets, hopes, dreams, and wishes for a positive chemical free, alcohol free future; fear of failure; internal polarities of wishes for change and fear of change, grief at the loss of the exciting life-style, or losses in relationships, opportunities, and time.

The Mask

My hidden me
Lies deep beneath a mask
A mask of fake smiles
And real tears
She's lonely, confused, scared
Choices that were made
does not show
the kind, giving, kindred soul
who wished to emerge
If she knew who she was
The shattered mask would be painted
on the wall, not her face

~ Cristina R.

And then there's iatrogenic (physician caused) relapse into addiction by inadequately trained doctors. When a doctor has earned the Boards In Family Practice he or she has an additional three months of training in addiction. Most physicians have about two hours in med school regarding alcoholism and drug addiction.

Addiction treatment teams, at one time or another, encounter doctors who think alcoholism or drug addiction is a Valium deficiency. The emotional swings of the addict create anxiety in the physician who brings out the prescription pad prematurely.

In the case of writing poetry, the mind and mood swings of early recovery are diffused or ameliorated by the nonviolent expression of personal verse. The writing of spoken word here-and-now shifts of mind and mood is a nonintrusive vehicle for the brain and central nervous system rebounding from chronic use, abuse, and, in the worst cases, polyabuse of mind-altering, mood-altering substances.

It follows that the writing of poetry for alcoholics and addicts addresses the spiritual malady and remedy of the substance abusing sick: spiritus contra spiritum, the dance of spiritual communion against the use of alcoholic substances. The dance is transformational. Poetry is the dance. Poetry transforms. Poetry transforms symptomatology in a manner sometimes predictably, sometimes mysteriously. Enter the legacy of the griots and the powerful imagery and language of topical and personal storytelling.

Poetry, and the writing of poetry, transforms the craving for beverage alcohol and chemicals and substitutes a drive for meaning, a longing for clarity, for dignity, for loyalty to a sober identity. As the pencil moves down the page angst, anxiety, depression, etc., move down the continuum of power. A spirit of change, of confidence, of health, of balance, infuses the zeitgeist of the writing circle and the heart of the recovering poet.



THE BEST THING ABOUT BEING CLEAN

Is being clean
Being clean feels like a dream,
I'm running and running
to clean
But right now it feels like a dream
So keep me clean and let me sleep
For the thoughts I have are too deep,
The best thing about being clean
is waking up being me.

~ Karrie K.


Atl WCGrouchy

What I like
About staying sober
waking up
grouchy
drinking coffee
to stay awake
but not using
anything illicit
staying sober
is what I like

~ Debra C.


I've worked with women during CCPW at Project Star that were so physically sick from withdrawals they could barely stay awake. They could only write about being sleepy or tired. I've also had to collaborate with women where they'd dictate a line of poetry to me and then I'd write a line until we had four lines. The women were so sick they couldn't hold the pencil or couldn't put a sentence together. Several weeks later the woman would be writing her own poem unassisted and remembering how much she had improved by her cognitive gains in writing skills.

In this way the women enter authorship of a complete personality change. They are authors of poetry immersed in a new consciousness of self-respect. They, therefore, begin authoring authentic clean and sober choices in daily living. As they make better choices in stanza, language, line breaks, imagery, mood or tone, etc., of their poetry, they make better life choices.

This is poetry of human beings in transformation, assisted by a process of transformation in an art of transformation. It is also a process of entering the sacred and learning to be comfortable there, if not to live there, in the recovering dance with its sweet music of love for self and the other- Buber's I - Thou.



THE WOMEN AROUND ME


The women around me have come
back from death,

The women around me have been
knocked around,

The women around me have made
a decision not to go back to the nightmare,

The women around me don't know
there's a seed growing,

The women around me don't know
their seed will birth a baby named

Sobriety,
The baby is born from rain,
the baby is born from times
when there was only darkness,

The women don't know this uncertainty,
this newness that feels so shaky and raw
is back straight, look-her-in-the-eye
integrity,

The women can't see their new dignity,
But I see dignity's fire in newly sober eyes,

The women's new dignity
helps them flame the fires of abstinence,

Just for today...

~ Jim Hornsby Spring 2009



I thank John Fox and The Institute for Poetic Medicine for funding this most rewarding project, the Project Star Women's Poetry Anthology. The women of these poems are not only clients. On account of the spiritual components inherent in writing verse, they are also writing sisters, writing nieces, writing daughters; young and old women of recovery rediscovering, relearning straight spine head-held-high dignity. They have earned the title Artists of Transformation, women poet/warriors dancing the clean and sober path of the heart.




Jim Hornsby is a member of San Diego's Langston Hughes Poetry Circle and a past board member of the African American Writers & Artists.  He teaches poetry workshops for gang youth in lockups, children in after school programs, and adults who are beginning or practiced poets.  Hornsby has been published in City Works, The Langston Hughes Poetry Anthology, The Magee Park Poets Anthology, the poetry conspiracy, Tidepools, and others.  He performs with The Three Deuces - jazz trumpet, dance, and spoken word ensemble with Mitch Manker and Michael Tompkins.  He was the director of the Encanto Boys and Girls Club Children's Poetry Choir from September of 2004 to June of 2009.  Hornsby is currently initiating a workshop after school program at the Queen Bee Art & Cultural Center in the North Park section of San Diego, California entitled "Bullets Outta Guns".  Jim believes that when adults provide after school art or sports programs and 10 children show up, 20 bullets are removed from guns: 10 bullets from police revolvers and 10 more from gang guns.




CALENDAR UPDATE


From East to West Coasts in America,
and From Bowen Island, B.C. in Canada
to The Korean Institute for Poetry Therapy
in Seoul, South Korea. . .



John's travels continue to unfold
in broad and diverse landscapes in 2010!


Many workshops are full at this time; however, there are several upcoming events where spaces remain (see below).  We would welcome your attendance... and please don't hesitate to tell your friends and family too!

A full calendar listing of upcoming fall/winter workshops and presentations will be available later this summer.

July 23, 2010

Kaiser Permanente Town Hall
3704 N. Interstate Ave.
Portland, Oregon



Poetic Medicine:  The Healing Art of Poem-Making
(A talk and mini-workshop)

Friday, July 23, 2010: 
7:00 - 9:30pm


This healing art can act as buffer and companion, salve and source of resilience during illness.  Whether it is your own illness or someone else's - friend, family member or a patient - this process of expression and being deeply listened to reminds us of our wholeness, our unique place in the world and our humanity.

In this presentation, John will share inspiring stories and specific ways you can make use of "poetic medicine":  to heal, enhance wellness, and reclaim that creative spark which is essential to us as human beings.  This is "whole personal healthcare" at its best!


Fee:  $25.00
(Proceeds will go towards The Institute for Poetic Medicine
with a tithe to Write Around Portland - a community based writing cooperative)

No Registration Required!  Please show up at the door.

To Download a PDF Flyer:   CLICK HERE

Questions?
Contact Marna Hauk:
[email protected]
(503) 771-0711

______________________________________


August 9, 13 & 14, 2010

Cleveland, OH



Poetic Medicine Consultations

John will offer one hour poetic medicine consultations
to individuals in the Cleveland area with times available
on
August 9, 13 & 14.
 
Fee:  $60 per hour or sliding scale

For More Information or to Schedule a Time:

                                  Please call:       (530) 383-4668
                                  Or E-Mail:        [email protected]

______________________________________

August 11-12, 2010

The Gathering Place
(A caring community for those touched by cancer)

2330 Commerce Park
Beachwood, Ohio


Gathering Place Logo

Finding the Words to Say It

Wednesday, August 11:     6:30 - 8:30pm
                       Thursday, August 12:         1:00 - 3:30pm

What do you want to say about your cancer experience?  What do you want to say about what matters to you?  What is it like for you to be deeply listened to?  John will show how your own words can deepen feeling and understanding, provide comfort and bring relief. 

Finding the words to say what is in your heart can lighten the load and bring a new sense of meaning, purpose and direction.

If you are new to writing, John creates a safe environment to explore this empowering process of self-expression.  If you have attended workshops with in the past, this program will offer time to write and share in community.  No prior experience necessary.  You are invited to attend one or both sessions.

Advance Registration is Required!
Please Call For Information and to Register: 
(216) 595-9546


To Learn More About The Gathering Place:
(CLICK HERE)   



______________________________________

August 27, 2010

Sponsored by the Sacramento Chapter of
The Institute of Noetic Sciences

Sacramento, CA



The Gifts of Wholeness
from the Particular to the Universal
...and Back Again

A Talk and Mini-Writing/Poetry Workshop
with John Fox, CPT

Friday, August 27, 2010
7:00 - 9:30pm

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

William Blake
from Auguries of Innocence

A gift of poetry is that it encourages us to take our time to see. We can take our time not only to see a small flower, but through that flower, see and feel the richness of the whole world, through the person whose shoulder is next to yours we can feel the throbbing heart of humanity. 

Poetry is a window to the particular, a path to this wholeness.

This evening, sponsored by IONS of Sacramento, will give you the opportunity to experiment with these connections, to discover for yourself such wholeness.  

No previous experience with writing is necessary.  Please bring your curiosity and alert attention!

I continued to look at the flowers, and in their living light
I seemed to detect the qualitative equivalent of breathing -
but of a breathing without returns to a starting point,
with no recurrent ebbs but only a repeated flow from beauty
to heightened beauty, from deeper to ever deeper meaning.

Aldous Huxley
from The Doors of Perception

 
For More Information and Location, Please Contact:

Al Jacobus
                           E-Mail:     [email protected]
                           Phone:      (916) 366-8540


To Visit the Website of the Sacramento Community Group of The Institute of Noetic Science:

(CLICK HERE)

______________________________________



September 10-12, 2010

The Mercy Center
Burlingame, California


Mercy Center Labyrinth


The Journey to the Undivided Life:
Reclaiming Your Hidden Wholeness
Though the Healing Power of Poetry


A Retreat Bringing Together Poetic Medicine
with the Circle of Trust Approach

with John Fox, CPT and Sally Hare, Ph.D.

In this unique retreat, poet John Fox and teacher Sally Z. Hare come together to explore the intersection of their work.  They invite you to experience a circle of trust, grounded in Sally's many years of working with Parker Palmer's Circle of Trust theory, and the healing power of writing based in John's own work in poetry therapy.

The safe space of this retreat offers you the opportunity to glimpse your own hidden wholeness by welcoming shadow as well as light, pain as well as joy.  Here is a chance to rejoin soul and role, to reconnect who you are with what you do.

In large and small groups, as well as solitary settings, we will explore the intersection of our personal and professional lives, making use of stories from our own journeys, as well as insights from poets and various wisdom traditions - and inviting our own writing and poetry to emerge

The internationally known Mercy Center in Burlingame is 10 minutes from the San Francisco airport.  In addition to the natural sanctuary of mature oaks and flower gardens, the Center has a bookstore, hand-built labyrinth, and lovely walking paths.  You may want to come early - or stay late to take advantage of the yoga, massage, and healing touch offered by appointment with their experienced bodywork practitioners.


To Download a PDF Flyer/Registration Form:
CLICK HERE

To Visit Sally Z. Hare's Website:
CLICK HERE


To Learn More About Retreats at the Mercy Center:        
CLICK HERE



______________________________________

September 22 & 23, 2010

The Wellness Community at Northside Hospital

5775 Peachtree Dunwoody Road
Building C-Suite 225
Atlanta, GA  30342



Finding the Words to Say It:
The Healing Power of Written Expression


Please see the description for the workshop
at
The Gathering Place in Cleveland, Ohio posted above.


Please call The Wellness Community
for exact times, more information and to register:
404-843-1880

To Vist The Wellness Community Website:
(CLICK HERE)

______________________________________

September 24 & 25, 2010

Atlanta, Georgia




Poetic Medicine / Seeing Takes Time

John will also offer public programs in the Atlanta, Georgia area:

   Poetic Medicine          
Friday, September 24th
7pm-9:30pm

Seeing Takes Time:     
 *Saturday, September 25th
10am-5pm

*(Note:  The Satuday workshop is limited to 16 registrations).

For More Information Please Contact:
 
Agata Dichev

                                        E-Mail:   agdichev@gmail
                                        Phone:    (734) 904-8923


Locations to be Announced

Nobody sees a flower-really-it is so small-we haven't time-
and to see takes time like to have a friend takes time.
 
~Georgia O'Keefe 














WE NEED YOUR HELP!


Are you moved by these
Poetry Partner stories?
 
A donation to IPM assures we will
do more - and you will be a
"Friend of the Institute!"





"If ever there were a time when connecting creativity and healing was meaningful on a planetary scale, now is the time.
This is why I feel thankful to support the work of The Institute for Poetic Medicine. Vitalizing, direct, spirit-awakening...
so grateful for the work of IPM!" 


~ Marna Hauk
Portland, Oregon

The Institute for Poetic Medicine
is a tax deductible nonprofit 501(c)3.

Please advance our mission
to "awaken soulfulness in the human voice"
by sending a check to:


The Institute for Poetic Medicine
P. O. Box 60189
Palo Alto, CA 94306
Attn: John Fox
 

                                       Thank you!




Please...
Share this Constant Contact
With Family, Friends, and Co-Workers
by Clicking the "Forward e-Mail" Link
at the Bottom of this Newsletter.

Want to View Our Previous
Constant Contact Newsletters?

Visit Our Archive By:

(CLICKING HERE)

Hands

"You led me to a place where my own 6 lines of
poetry would take me to, on the profound journey
to my lost friend.  For that I will be forever grateful."

~ Tom Roberts, Moffett Cancer Center, Tampa, FL






Atl WC
It is my pleasure to design and send these Constant Contact communications to you.  As a hospice grief counselor, my pilgrimage is one of deep listening with the ears of my heart.  I offer poetry as sweet balm for the shattered places... the opening spaces.
 

  With Gratitude for the Journey ~

  Melissa Layer, Port Townsend, WA





...Tolling for the aching whose wounds cannot be nursed
For the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an' worse
An' for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing

from  The Chimes of Freedom
by Bob Dylan



To View Full Lyrics to The Chimes of Freedom:
(CLICK HERE)