MY LOOKING RIPENS THINGS

A Poetry Reading & Open Mic at the Encinitas Library 

Encinitas, CA
   

February 17, 2011

6:00PM

Featured Readers:  Janet Baker, Jim Hornsby,

John Fox, Lynn Pollock

Please bring a poem or two to read at the Open Mic!

Encinitis Library

540 Cornish Drive

(between "D" & "E" Streets, 2 block east of Highway 101)

Encinitas, CA

There is no charge for this event!

To Download a PDF Flyer:   CLICK HERE
  

Janet Baker grew up in the Iowa farm country, was educated at Iowa State, and later at the University of Florida in Gainesville. She has been an educator all her life. Her current position is as Professor of English and Chair of Arts and Humanities at National University. She began writing poetry in midlife and considers herself mainly a nature poet, with a preference for short nature lyrics. Her work has recently been published in the Briar Cliff Review, Lilliput Review, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Cider Press Review, and qarrtsiluni. She lives in Encinitas.

Jim Hornsby, M.A., LMFT, is the Poet In Residence at The Encanto Boys and Girls Club where he directs the Encanto Children's Poetry Choir, at Young Audiences of San Diego, and at the Juvenile Court And Community Schools.  He is a member of the Langston Hughes Poetry Circle and a past board member of the African American Writers and Artists.  Mr. Hornsby is a Vietnam Veteran, and a member of the Barbareno Chumash tribe.  Under the pseudonym of Jim Moreno, he published his first book of poetry, Dancing in Dissent: Poetry For Activism (Dolphin Calling Press). 

 John Fox is a poet and certified poetry therapist.  He is adjunct associate professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.  He teaches at John F. Kennedy University in Berkeley, The Institute for Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, and Holy Names University in Oakland.  John is author of Poetic Medicine: The Healing Art of Poem-making and is featured in the PBS documentary Healing Words: Poetry and Medicine.  This is his 14th annual trip to San Diego and the North Bay.  John is President of The Institute for Poetic Medicine.

Lynn Pollock is a professor at Southwestern College. She has been teaching literature and creative writing there for over 20 years. She breaks all the rules of "good English" as she bears her soul and makes you laugh a little with her poetic offerings. Inspired by John Fox's poetic medicine, she's recently published a chapbook of some her work entitled, Dissolving Dualities.

February 18-20, 2011 

San Diego, CA

SEEING TAKES TIME

A Writing Workshop

San Diego, CA
 

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

Friday Evening, February 18:   7:00pm - 9:30pm    

Saturday, February 19:   10:00am - 5:00pm   

Sunday, February 20:   9:30am - 12:30pm 

 This retreat offers a safe, supportive environment to write poems - or what William Stafford preferred to call 'things' - that can open up feelings, distill meaning, and shore up your ability to respond to difficulties with integrity and courage.  And we'll take our time.

Location:   Home of Lynn Pollock & Ilan Auerbach

                     2546 Deerpark Dr.

                     San Diego, CA  92110

Fee:  $170.00

(Sliding scale scholarships are available).
  

For Registration & Questions:

Please Contact John Foos at:

E-mail:  johnfoos1@gmail.com

Phone:  (760)672-7680

There Are 15 Spaces Available; Please Register Soon!

To Download a PDF Flyer:   CLICK HERE
 

March 11-12, 2011  

Mountain View, CA  

John Fox Brings Poetry & Healing

to the Cancer Support Community - Silicon Valley  

The Vineyard

Mountain View, CA 

Friday, March 11:  7:00pm to 9:30pm

Saturday, March 12:  11:00am to 2:30pm
 

 Friday, March 11:  7:00pm to 9:30pm

Poetry & the Creative Arts

as a Way to Empower Yourself and Your Wholeness

CLICK HERE to Read About Healing Words Production

and View a Clip from the Film 

The PBS documentary film "Healing Words: Poetry & Medicine" will be shown.  Join John Fox, along with Caroline Thomas, LCSW, of Cancer Support Community to facilitate a conversation on the healing power of the arts.
 

Saturday, March 12:  11:00am to 2:30pm

Poetic Medicine:  The Healing Art of Poem-Making

Join us for this exploration of your creative voice and how you can use poetry and creative writing to empower yourself in the midst of illness.  Connect with those you care about and affirm your healing spirit.  Lunch will be served!

Location of Both Events:   The Vineyard

                                                455 North Whisman Road, Suite 300

                                                Mountain View, CA  94043

There is no fee; however please call to register! 

To Register & For More Information:

Please contact the Cancer Support Community-Silicon Valley office in Mountain View at (650)968-5000.  

To Learn More About the Cancer Support Community-Bay Area:    CLICK HERE 

Caroline Thomas is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who is a trained facilitator in the Arts of Healing method through Chapman University in Los Angeles.  Caroline has implemented this program at The Children's Alliance of Hawaii, a non-profit agency which provides therapeutic services to adolescents and children who have been victims of sexual abuse, as well as at Cancer Support Community in both Walnut Creek and Mountain View, CA. 

July 8-10, 2011  

Portland, OR 

MY LOOKING RIPENS THINGS:

Being a Catalyst for Healing Through Poem-Making

The Garden Sanctuary 

Portland, OR

Friday, July 8:  7:00pm to 9:30pm

Saturday, July 9:  10:00am to 5:00pm

Sunday, July 10:  9:00am to 1:00pm
 

The hour is striking so close above me,

so clear and sharp,

that all my senses ring with it.

I feel now there is a power in me

to grasp and give shape to my world.

I know that nothing has ever been real

without my beholding it.

All becoming has needed me.

My looking ripens things

and they come toward me, to meet and be met.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

translated by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows

Location:  Multnomah Village Garden Sanctuary

                    3424 SW Hume St.

                    Portland, OR

Fee:  Friday only - $25; Entire Weekend - $225

          Note:  There are 3 sliding scale scholarships available. 

To Register & For More Information:

Please contact Marna Hauk at:

E-mail:   deeperharmony@gmail.com

Phone:    (503) 771-0711

To Download a PDF Flyer/Registration:   CLICK HERE 

As I write this at the outset of 2011, I feel a deep call to bring 25 + years of experience with poetry as healer to a new level of sharing. My question to myself and to you is this:  What can you and I do to make a difference?

We have all done good and considerable inner work on ourselves. Such inner work and growth is the basis for any healing and positive "change" we want to bring to others.

There is a point, however, where we realize that in fact we are enough.  We don't have to keep writing on the blackboard, "I will be better." There is room for our imperfections and what we don't know is where true connection and growth can occur. It's time to realize that as Rilke says, "My looking ripens things."

This retreat at The Garden Sanctuary will help you become a catalyst for poetry as healer in your world.  This naturally will be useful to people in healthcare, pastoral care, therapists of all descriptions, and community activists.

This retreat will be inspiring and useful for anyone who wants to use poetic medicine in a more expansive way. We will work together to discover what gives life to our writing and to our action in the world.

I want to support you in the particular life you live, within the unique callings and interests you have - to make poetry as healer meaningful to your work, your relationships, your political and social concerns, your daily life - and yes, to include yourself and how it can help you.

Some of the topics we will likely explore:

Why practice poetic medicine?

Holding a Safe, Sacred and Creative Environment

Risk, Experimentation, Honesty of Feeling and Pleasure in   

      Language

Deep Listening & Attention, Slowing Down & Silence

Letting Go of Judgment and Habitual Evaluation, Being Curious, 

      Noticing/Nurturing Strengths, Affirming Connections

The Place of the Body In Bringing a Poem Alive

Absorbing Poems into Your Marrow and Sharing Them with     

      Others

Landscapes of Relationships; When God Sighs: Making Poems  

      about Illness; Loss and Death; Poems of Witness; The Peace of  

      Wild Things; There is a Secret One Inside Us  

July 18-22, 2011  

Bowen Island, B.C. (Canada) 

MY LOOKING RIPENS THINGS:

Being a Healing Catalyst Through Poem-Making

Rivendell Retreat Center

Bowen Island, British Columbia

Monday, July 18:   Program begins at 7:30pm

(Participants are welcome to arrive anytime from 4:00 p.m. onward to register and unpack in their rooms. For those who arrive earlier, a light supper will be served at 6:30 p.m.)
 

Friday, July 22:  Program concludes at 11:30am

(in time to catch 11:30am ferry to mainland)
  

This retreat will help you become a catalyst for poetry as healer in your world.  This naturally will be useful to people in healthcare, pastoral care, therapists of all descriptions, and community activists.  But these are not requirements!  This retreat will inspire and be useful to anyone who wants to use poetic medicine in a more expansive way.

Location:  Rivendell Retreat Centre, Bowen Island, British Columbia

To Learn More About the Retreat Centre:   CLICK HERE

Cost:  $650.00 infludes full retreat, all meals & lodging

Please send a deposit of $100.00 to hold reservation.

Checks are Payable To:   

The Institute for Poetic Medicine

P.O. Box 60189

Palo Alto, CA  94306 

For Information & To Register:

Please Contact Ray McGinnis at:

Phone:  (604) 408-4457

E-Mail: writingthesacred@telus.net 

To Download a Brochure/Registration:   CLICK HERE 

October 27-30, 2011  

Menlo Park, CA  

with The Institute for Poetic Medicine

and for Anyone Who Wants to Be a Healing Catalyst

This retreat will help you become a catalyst for poetry as healer in your world.  This time together will also provide a gathering place for new students of The Institute for Poetic Medicine.  This retreat will be useful to people in healthcare, pastoral care, therapy of all description, and community activism.  This retreat will inspire and be useful to anyone who wants to use poetic medicine in a more expansive way.

Cost:  $650.00 infludes full retreat, all meals & lodging

Please send a deposit of $100.00 to hold reservation.

Travel:  San Jose International Airport is close by! 

Checks are Payable To:   

The Institute for Poetic Medicine

P.O. Box 60189

Palo Alto, CA  94306 

A POETRY PARTNER PROJECT
 

The Clubhouse Model As a Path to Rehabilitation:

Introducing the Healing Art of Poem-Making

by Lisa DeVuono, IPM Poetry Partner 

 
 Lisa DeVuono, IPM Poetry Partner

Lehigh Valley, PA
 

Editor's Note:  2011 is the second year that IPM has funded the excellent work of Lisa DeVuono at The Clubhouse in Lehigh Valley, PA.  The Clubhouse Model of mental health support especially appeals to the board of IPM.  There are over 300 Clubhouses throughout the world.  The following report explores the experiences of Clubhouse members in 2010.  We are excited about the development of the program in 2011, especially Lisa's writing of a guidebook of ways to bring poetry and poem-making to other Clubhouse members.  We thank Lisa for this in-depth report.

It was well over twenty years ago that my friend Lu Mauro, a mental health practitioner, first told me about the Clubhouse Model and its impact on the rehabilitation of individuals living with mental illness and working towards recovery.  Sixteen years ago, she developed a Clubhouse at Penn Foundation in Sellersville, Bucks County PA. 

Around that same time, I reconnected to my love of poetry, through writing, performance and my creative coaching practice.  I approached Lu about facilitating a workshop and was encouraged to develop a set of sessions with the idea of recovery, wellness, and poetry as healer.  Over the last six years I've had the good fortune to offer workshops to several clubhouses in six counties in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

I met John Fox about ten years ago and since that time we have collaborated on several projects, so it seemed a great fit to become an Institute for Poetic Medicine Poetry Partner to continue and spread the transformational power of poetry on a grassroots level.  I thank IPM and all the Clubhouse members and staff for making this experience possible.

Poetry Club Members, Wellspring Clubhouse, Lehigh Valley, PA

Clubhouse Philosophy

The information in this section has been copied from the Clubhouse website at:   http://www.iccd.org. 

The notion that mentally ill people could actively partner in their own healing and become fully functioning community members was revolutionary in an era when the mentally ill were highly stigmatized and most often sent away to secluded institutions.  In contrast, Fountain House (first clubhouse) tried to create a physical environment that resembled a private home, rather than a hospital. There were no bars on the windows and no part of the building was restricted from members.

Additionally, Fountain House was established as a Clubhouse, not a service center - an important distinction. A service center is a site from which social workers administer case management and clients receive services. While case management is a part of Fountain House's activities, the principal purpose of the Clubhouse is that of a center for work, education, and entertainment activities organized and administered with the help of the members. 

A Clubhouse is a place where people who have had mental illness come to rebuild their lives. The participants are called members, not patients, and the focus is on their strengths - not their illness. Work in the clubhouse - whether it is clerical, data input, meal preparation or reaching out to their fellow members - provides the core healing process. Every opportunity provided is the result of the efforts of the members and small staff, who work side by side, in a unique partnership.

One of the most important steps members take toward greater independence is transitional employment, where they work in the community at real jobs. Members also receive help in securing housing, advancing their education, obtaining good psychiatric and medical care, and maintaining government benefits. Membership is for life so members have all the time they need to secure their new life in the community.

The Clubhouse operates in a "work-ordered day," which runs from 8:30 am -  4:00 pm, Monday thru Friday.  Members choose to work in one of three units:

Member Services:  Focuses on building administrative skills, welcomes new members, and maintains records and statistics.

 Career Development:  Focuses on return to school or work, offers tutoring, and publishes a monthly newsletter on member accomplishments.

 Health & Wellness:  Prepares daily lunches, maintains the Clubhouse Café, and manages exercise, recreation, and environment of Clubhouse.

Above all, Wellspring Clubhouse provides a place where people can belong and is a place for friendship, hope, and new beginnings.  I'm especially happy to scatter some of the vivid poetry collages that were created during my residency throughout this report.  More about them soon!

Poetry as Wellness Curriculum: 

Since Clubhouse encourages member leadership and involvement in all aspects of the "work day," I created a "poetry as wellness" series of sessions that would mentor skills and at the same time create a healing and supportive environment for members to engage with each other, to build a community where the poem and their writing, not the illness, became the focus for discussion.

The workshops, conducted at Lehigh Valley and Wellspring Clubhouses, each addressed a quality or skill that is useful in enhancing wellness and recovery.  Our first session focused on poetry as a creative arts/healing tool. This included quotes and poems about poetry and writing which invited everyone to experience the poems on a deeper imaginative level and move, from an academic approach, to one of emotional engagement.

Each of the remaining poetry sessions explored different themes including listening, compassion, gratitude, beauty, nature, strength, vulnerability, humor, and transformation. I encouraged members to notice which lines or words held resonance and invited them to read the poems aloud, to discuss what was evoked, what mattered to them.  We wrote at each session, and shared, either our poems or something about the experience. 

 Participation of Clubhouse Members:

All of the members in both groups struggle with daily living issues. Some suffer breakdowns and endure hospitalization, and others take medication. Some are in a recovery process related to drugs or alcohol. Some live on their own, others with family members, or in group homes. One member had recently spent two years in a local institution, and another was struggling to save his home from foreclosure. Some members had changing work hours, or depended on others for their transportation. All of these factors meant that I probably would not see the same set of participants each week. Since only a few of the members were able to attend every session, it was important that each "lesson" be fluid. I also shared any previous session notes or missed copies of poems, so they could follow the "thread" from session to session and see the connection to the larger "curriculum."

Many times when reading their own poems aloud, there was a kind of hurried mumbling, and I would ask them to slow down, and treasure what they had to say.  Just placing their hands over their hearts seemed to calm the nervous energy in the room, while raising the level of attentive listening. This made a huge difference both in terms of the member speaking, and to the group.  Reading poems with universal themes of listening, compassion, and gratitude developed a strong sense of community in the group, and they began to discover things not only about themselves but about each other, developing a new found respect.

In another session, the group made collage poems. Since a few members were not able to write each time, using pre-cut words from magazines provided them with a sense of freedom. It was wonderful to see how members would encourage each other, as well as challenge them to try reading, writing, and sharing their stories. "P" said that the language of poetry gave her the freedom to open up and talk about what is meaningful and beautiful in her life. 
 

Another member, "S", who is a visual artist, was excited to create poems to underscore his images.  He often felt that words had been a stumbling block for him, but was hopeful that this new approach to poetry gave him permission to write. Here is an example of a poem he wrote inspired by one of his own paintings.

Vector 

Streaking through

holes in clouds

beyond confining spaces

targeting new adventure

infinite

always changing

and back again

light is always there

forever shining

filling every void

unique and never unique

For the session on empathy and compassion, I selected poems and pictures relating to nature and animals and asked folks to pick an image that spoke to them. The following poems stemmed from that activity:

Moose

Where have you come from?    

Wild and free

Standing on my doorstep

Speaking silently

Your gaze reveals your true nature

At peace

Harmonious in the 'civilized world

Our constructed boundaries - house

Fences, roads, cars

Meanwhile you wander freely

Moment to moment

Lost

Yet at home

Confident

Wild beast.

~S

Standing on the highest bluff

I will never get enough

Viewing the great expanse

I learn a lot from my inner trance

Free to open my heart and mind

Think I'll fly forever and let my ear and mind expand

I'll finally feel free like God intended me to be.

~ R

The group at the Wellspring Clubhouse had over twelve members participating;  many had been attending the poetry club facilitated by another member who has continued to provide poetry sessions every month over the last several years.  Our weekly sessions offered poems on forgiveness, hope, humor and transformation.  At the end of our time together, the group participated at an open mic held at the local library.  Everyone read their individual poems, and we also read together a group poem that was written during our poetry sessions.

Blue sparks peace

Depth

Clues breathe

Immense Pumping

Breathe

Neurons cry

Forever neurons

God measures sky

Need waves

Sonascense

Stars alive

Regeneration

Whales connect

Renewal

Just Being

Paying It Forward:  Planting Seeds So Members May Continue the Work

At the end of the series of workshops, I asked members to share what new discoveries occurred for them as a result of the poetry sessions. Some of the responses included: enjoyable to listen to others; refreshing to hear different points of view; learned short ways of putting thoughts and ideas together; new ways to write more about feelings; feelings of hope; feeling that "I" can be a poet; encouragement to write about inner visions.

An important component of IPM's Poetry Partners program is in modeling for others the power of poetry for transformation and healing.  The Clubhouse philosophy is all about empowerment, and from the beginning, it has been my intention with poetry workshops to "pay it forward" and to plant seeds for members to continue the work for themselves, both as individuals, and collectively. 

I recently had the chance to talk with Dan Flore, a member at Wellspring Clubhouse that I met over 6 years ago, about his work with poetry, his own facilitating to other members through the Poetry Club, and to clients at Penn Foundation, the host organization for the Clubhouse. He also hosted the Readings for Recovery Open Mic in 2009, and was a participant in the most recent one at the local library.

Lisa:  How did you first become interested in poetry?

Dan: I first got excited about poetry in the fourth grade. I wrote a poem for a friend to give to his "girlfriend." I stopped writing until high school, where I mostly wrote romantic poems... then pursued this wonderful art seriously from my twenties on.  Recently, I won a scholarship to attend the Philadelphia Writers Conference, and had the opportunity to really be immersed in a community of creative people.  It was stimulating and supportive, and great for improving self-confidence.

Lisa: How has poetry made a difference in your life?

Dan: Poetry has helped me to understand that I cannot make it through this life successfully without God. It has allowed me to find out who I am as a Christian man. I use these gifts regularly, and writing poetry has been supportive of me emotionally and for increasing self-esteem.

Lisa:  What poets have inspired you?

Dan:  The Beats...for inspiration...who were willing to put it all on the line for their art...not romanticizing that lifestyle...but more that poems are happening all around us, we just have to have eyes to capture them.  Walt Whitman for healing, and Bob Dylan.

Lisa: What do you enjoy most about leading poetry workshops?

Dan:  I enjoy helping people see that they can use poetry to help get out their feelings, their life story, and what they want out of their future. I also like showing participants in the workshops what great poetry is by using classic examples.

Lisa: What do you hope participants will remember about poetry?

Dan:  I hope they remember that poetry can help in their recovery and at the same time show them they can become an artist.

Lisa: Plans for the future?

Dan: I'm putting together a class to teach at the local community college, as well as some workshops at Norristown Hospital.

Lisa:  That's fantastic! Thanks so much Dan for continuing the work that you do, both in writing your poetry, and facilitating others to do the same.  Wellspring and Penn Foundation are lucky to have you.  I look forward to working more with you in the future.

Dan is a prolific poet, and I'm including one of his wonderful poems here.

Vase

you are my little vase

autumn skies in your glass

I am a broken dandelion

abandoned by the promise of spring's stem

reaching for the twilight water in your cupped hands

Next Steps

The sessions allowed members to deepen their sense of community and caring as well as assisting them in honing skills. They enjoyed listening to each other, as well as focusing on the poems as a way to listen to their own strong voice as a tool for empowerment.  I feel that the experience that they have had together has made a difference to them as individuals, and to each other, and will serve them well in their lives as a whole.

The Clubhouse Model is a unique one in supporting individuals living and recovering with mental illness, and poetry has much to offer to this model.  Members have taken the initiative to continue the group on their own. This is so exciting, and is exactly in alignment with both Clubhouse and IPM's mission.

In ongoing conversations with members and staff there is a unique opportunity here to develop a peer "poetry and recovery curriculum" that would serve as a training to assist with goal-setting, and job coaching.  In this way, it serves as a prototype and a "seed" planted in the truest sense of community development. It is my hope that we will create a peer poetry and recovery curriculum that anyone can use individually for themselves as well as for conducting a wellness and recovery poetry series.

It is a privilege to offer poetry in this way where the healing emphasis is not on the disability or the illness but on the whole person. Engaging with poetry and writing from that place empowers everyone in the room. It's as if we step into a field of dreaming new possibilities for our lives. To quote Rumi, "Out beyond our ideas of right and wrong doing, there is a field.  I'll meet you there."

Let My Country Awake: Poems of Witness

"People turn to poetry in times of crisis because it comes closer than any other art form to addressing what cannot be said."

~ W. S. Merwin, United States Poet Laureate (current) 

The tragedy in Tucson, Arizona which evoked in some people profound acts of life-sacrificing courage and selflessness, has been on my mind and heart.  So has the trembling grief of those directly impacted by great loss.  

We are also witnesses to the great urge of body, heart and soul to heal, expressed by Representative Gabrielle Giffords in her recovery and others since that shooting occurred. This will to live, this example of love by those staying with the injured, inspires me and perhaps you too.

While there has been nothing that links vitriolic political rhetoric to the motives of the mentally unstable perpetrator, nevertheless this event is raising gut and soul searching questions about who we are as a nation, whether we take mental illness and gun laws seriously or not, and how we communicate with one another on how to improve and even how to view our country.

I feel much gratitude that we live in a country where the ideal can be treasured that we are "of the people, by the people and for the people."  This is at the core of our identity.  Yet maintaining self- governance is not a given.  There are tremendous strains on our democratic system, largely right now because of the influence of money.  Benjamin Franklin was asked, as he departed Independence Hall in 1787 at the Constitutional Convention:  "What kind of country do we have?"  Franklin replied, "A Republic, if you can keep it."
 

I believe poetry has something critical to offer to us as a way to explore and give voice to the balance we must constantly find between individual liberty and the common welfare, what Walt Whitman wrote about in his two-line poem, America:

ONE'S SELF I sing - a simple, separate Person;  

Yet utter the Democratic, the word En-masse.

I wrote a chapter entitled Poems of Witness:  Living with Heart in a Conflicted World that appears in Poetic Medicine.

 CLICK HERE  to Read More About Poetic Medicine.

Poetry helps individuals and communities recover and sustain their voices, give witness to injustice, recognize something larger than our individual selves, and celebrate wholeness.  Poetry is a way to create truthfulness and honor between ourselves.  It's that sense of happening I quoted earlier in the words of Robert Kelly.  It happens one person at a time, this democracy, and we become it too.
 

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

Where the mind is lead forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action-

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. 

~Rabindranath Tagore

Nobel Prize Winner, 1917

At the public memorial and celebration of courage in Tucson where President Obama eloquently spoke, University of Arizona President Robert Shelton said at the end,  "I now conclude the program tonight by reading a poem written by W.S. Merwin who is the current poet laureate of the United States of America."

To the New Year

With what stillness at last

you appear in the valley

your first sunlight reaching down

to touch the tips of a few

high leaves that do not stir

as though they had not noticed

and did not know you at all

then the voice of a dove calls

from far away in itself

to the hush of the morning

so this is the sound of you

here and now whether or not

anyone hears it this is

where we have come with our age

our knowledge such as it is

and our hopes such as they are

invisible before us

untouched and still possible.

~ W. S. Merwin

United States Poet Laureate (current)

To View This Poem on Panhala:     CLICK HERE    

To Check out "Poetry in Times of Tragedy at The University of Arizona Poetry Center":        CLICK HERE 

This is a place where we can practice and experience building truthfulness and honor.  Below are some poems that emerged following the event in Tucson:

This is Haiti.

This is Jerusalem, Cambodia.  

This is Darfur, Belfast, Beirut.

This is Oklahoma, New York. 

This is London, Baghdad, Tehran.  

This is Tucson.

This is a time to think about health in broader terms,

The 9-year-old here,

the young children there,

bullets, bombs bursting in air...really  

prove very little - our flag is in many places  

it has no business being in, or  

it is being used to excuse or incite

heinous crimes, all in the name of freedom...

This is a voice promoting kindness,

insisting that this solemn moment not be one

for the history books,

somewhere.

This farmer of hope continues to sow.

~ Shana Paster

Christina

She never said a word to me -

At times I despair that our 

but her 9-year-old voice smiles loudly

~ Vern Hills
 

(Note from Vern:  After writing this poem and hearing myself read it aloud I realized my life-long skepticism about ALL politicians and how deftly the unscripted unspoken interaction between Gabrielle Giffords and Christina Green shattered that stereotype. They certainly raised my hope for humanity!)

Appassionata 

After the rising dissonance

with the trumpet and the sax

trying to out-shout each other

and the drums, the drums,

trying to shut them both down,

came the silence-- two, three, five--

one hardly dared to count--

eight, thirteen...

and the cello began

in such pure and hesitant

sweetness

that the tears began to rise

and the flowers of tenderness

opened slowly

and we saw each other again

in our various and awkward beauty.

~ Barbara Hazard

(Note from Barbara:  Even before the events in Tucson, I've been wrestling with an issue that assails me periodically: is it OK to be an artist in times of violence and need? I had just finished reading, Appassionata by Eva Hoffman, which spoke exactly to this dilemma, and to the healing role of tenderness and beauty. The music of the book was still with me, and jazz is never far from my heart).

The Wick Poetry Center

Kent State University

The Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University

Brings Poetry to Life

This past fall John met David Hassler, the Executive Director of The Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University. David attended a program at The Gathering Place: A Caring Community for Those Touched by Cancer in Beachwood, OH.  John has facilitated workshops at TGP for over seven years.   The Wick Poetry Center is doing tremendous work to bring poetry into the community, around the United States, and out into the world at large. David and his staff at Wick find ways to show how poetry, in very tangible ways, can make a difference. This past year their focus was on peace, and in 2011 the focus will be on the power of poetry to heal.

Promoting Peace in a Range of Projects & Readings:

To read about how the The Wick Poetry Center is promoting a message of peace and reconciliation through poetry and art:

(CLICK HERE).

The Vietnamese Children's Art Exhibit:  

A beautiful and moving art exhibit project focused on peace is a collaboration between The Wick Poetry Center and the veteran support organization, Solider's Heart, led by Ed Tick, poet and author of War and the Soul (Click Here).  Solider's Heart describes this project this way:

Kent State University's Wick Poetry Center and School of Art Galleries have collaborated with Solider's Heart, a veteran's return and healing organization to create the Vietnamese Children's Art Exhibit.  This exhibit features Vietnamese children's drawings and paintings on themes of peace and war that have been collected by the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.  Paired with original poems written by American children, veterans, and established poets, this collaborative, international art exhibit encourages a creative dialogue between image and word, promoting cross-cultural understanding, reconciliation and global citizenship.

To Read More About the Solider's Heart Project:

CLICK HERE

To Read More About the Healing Power of the Vietnamese Children's Art Exhibit, the Following Link Includes an Inspiring Message From Ed Tick:    CLICK HERE

Traveling Stanzas Project:

The Wick Poetry Center, in collaboration with Glyphix, the student design studio within the School of Visual Communciation and Design at Kent, created a beautiful set of gift cards that draw from this exhibit.

This year's set of "traveling stanzas" cards will be dedicated to poetry as healer.  John will have a portion of the poem "Lift the Banner of Your Heart" included among the 12 cards.  These cards are currently being designed, so stay tuned!

My Voice

My voice fills the air with song.
It pops out like a purple crocus in  

spring,
blooming louder every day.
My voice carries a secret
then passes it on.
My voice is like an oven - it dings
when a great idea is done.
My voice moves to the vibrations of  

peace.
I hear the world sing
and my voice sings back.
 

~ Poem frm Lori Galambos' 4th Grade Class

Miller South School, Akron, OH

Poster Design:  Ruth Turner

Kent State University, Visual Communication Design

To Learn More About "Traveling Stanzas":    CLICK HERE

John and The Wick Center in 2011:

Plans have not been crystalized yet, but John will very likely be presenting programs sponsored by The Wick Poetry Center in the year ahead.  Please stay tuned!
 

Norris Cotton Cancer Center

Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

A New Creative Writing Program 

at Norris Cotton Cancer Center

Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center 

CLICK HERE   to Read More About The Center 

by Deb Steele

Manager of Support Services Programming

Deb Steele & John Fox

An Opening Note from John Fox:   

The Institute for Poetic Medicine has developed a strong poetry partner program funded by gracious donations we receive from individuals and foundations, as well as from the work that John does around the country.

An important part of our vision at the Institute is to act as catalysts when and where we can to initiate creative writing/poetry as healer programs within hospitals and medical schools.

We are aware that whether we have been involved or not, there are many writing to heal programs going on that shine with the light of poetry's healing power!

One such program includes involvement from IPM and also a decision by a director of patient services and the hospital to support arts-in-medicine.  The Norris Cotton Cancer Center located in Lebanon, New Hampshire, at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, has a paid position for this purpose.

Deb Steele, Manager of Support Services Programming in the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, who is also trained as an art therapist, brings a strong and long-standing commitment and vision to support and develop the creative arts in medical settings.

Deb and John met in May 2007 on a panel about "arts in medicine" at a conference sponsored by Commonweal in Bolinas, California.  Commonweal, founded by Dr. Rachel Remen, is one of the earliest holistic cancer support centers in the country.

Following is a report from Deb Steele about the Norris Cotton program:

John Fox came to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and Dartmouth Medical School in September 2009 and led a series of successful poetry workshops-reflections written from the heart.

We had a very positive response on our evaluations from all 5 groups that worked with John - from medical students, people with cancer, staff in our palliative care service, elders in an assisted living setting, and local teachers/facilitators.

John's inviting and safe approach to helping others open up to their own unique stories is one that makes him so special in this field. People who had not written in years, who never wrote a poem or used a metaphor knowingly, created poignant verses in John's workshops. Read aloud, these words touched not just the author but all fellow participants in the room.

Powerful medicine.

The positive feedback received after John Fox's workshop helped me to find support and funding for a new contracted staff position in our Creative Arts Program at Norris Cotton Cancer Center - that of a creative writer/poet/storyteller who now meets 10 hours weekly with inpatients and outpatients to create memoirs, stories, legacy letters, rhymes, and poetry.

We are pleased to have hired Marv Klassen-Landis for the job. Marv started working as a creative writing specialist at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in December of 2009.

He works part-time (two days per week), with his time equally divided between outpatients in the Infusion Suite who are getting chemotherapy, and inpatients in the patient towers, many of whom are either diagnosed with cancer or on the palliative care service.

The decision to hire a creative writer was made after interviewing nurses, social workers and several patients to see which creative modality they would like to see added to the creative arts program (we already had a part-time visual artist working with patients and a healing harpist when we made this inquiry).

In Marv's words:

"The opportunity to work individually with patients or with small groups of patients and caregivers has been a profound gift to me personally. The writing process often brings smiles and laughter; it can also be cathartic, bringing on cleansing tears, a sense of release, or new insights.  Sometimes patients return to childhood memories or cherished places that they have lived in or visited. Other times they experiment with poetic forms or images or phrases that come into their minds in response to prompts I provide.

I usually begin a session by reading poems or stories written by other patients. Patients who are tired or in pain or simply want to relax prefer to simply be read to. Often, though, hearing the words of other patients leads to a memory or thought that the patient shares with me verbally. If patients are interested in beginning a journal, I give them a journal to write in, but often they prefer simply talking to me and having me scribe their words on my laptop in the form of a poem, story or letter to a loved one.

(Diane Reinhardt & Marv Klassen-Landis)

Patients' writing tends to fall into the following categories: memories, favorite places, who am I, humor, illness and healing, reflections on life, and letters to loved ones. I always print out multiple copies for patients to share with friends and families. Many times patients also share their work with nurses, doctors and other patients, as well."

Marv led a six-week 90 minute writing class for anyone touched by cancer in the fall, and we had seven individuals enrolled. He has started a second group in January. In the near future we hope to create a standing meeting for inpatients who want to write expressively in one of the nursing conference rooms.

The Creative Arts Program is supported by the cancer center administration, by the Gertrude Mertens Arts Fund within DHMC Arts, by the DHMC Auxiliary, the palliative care program and through local philanthropy.

Poems from Patients:

The Flow

You can't figure it out.

You don't have to figure it out.

But you can understand.

You can feel the pulse, the rhythm, the flow.

A pure spring, a bubbling brook, a waterfall.

Or a lake with a mirror look.

A wild rushing river or a mud puddle.

They may flow to an ocean of life,

To grow or not to grow.

That's what life is - flow.

~ Ron Nepomuceno

Conversations with Marv Klassen-Landis

Lebanon, N.H.

June 10, 2010

In the Grove

Sitting in the chapel in the Grove,

White pines all around,

My spirit rises.

I feel at home.

White pines all around,

I hear the wind rustling leaves.

I feel at home,

At one with the congregation.

I hear the wind rustling leaves.

My spirit rises,

At one with the congregation

Sitting in the chapel in the Grove.

~ Sheila Drury

(this is a form of poetry called a pantoum)

To Learn More About the Pantoum Poetry Form:

CLICK HERE
 

My Tears Fall

(to Dr. P.)

My tears fall silent and swiftly;

The news you give me is not what I want to hear.

But you've made it crystal clear

The ultimate end is near.

The news you give me is not what I want to hear.

I will try not to live in fear, but joy.

The ultimate end is near....

Live life to its fullest when I can and while I can.

I will try not to live in fear, but joy.

But you've made it crystal clear:

Live life to its fullest when I can, while I can.

My tears fall silent and swiftly.

~ Sheila Drury

September 15, 2010

Note from Sheila (January 11, 2011):  Being in a writing group with its common thread being cancer or other life-threatening illnesses is quite emotional. At times it is just wrenching, and at other times quite uplifting. And almost always spiritual, connecting on a special level. Being able to purge thoughts and feelings in a safe and nurturing place is a very useful tool to have.

I Am

(dedicated to my wife Monica)

I am a babbling little brook

Running off the reservoir

Through the woods

Towards the town

With a path following along.

I am a red-tailed hawk

Flying around looking for something to eat-

A nice little rabbit or something.

I am a blue morning glory

Climbing a pole towards the sun,

Avoiding the bugs,

With marigolds close by.

I am a garnet

Embedded in granite

On the side of the mountain.

You need to break open up

The rock with a hammer

To expose me to the sunshine.

I am a sunny day

Shining on plants and flowers,

With a few high clouds

And a slight breeze.

I am a battered, used old baseball glove

Hanging in the tool shed, not used in many years.

I am an old claw hammer

With the handle hardened by age

And chips on the metal head,

Worn from years of pulling and banging nails.

I am a roof covering and protecting those we love.

I am an oil painting

Of sunlight coming through a window

Shining on the back of a chair.

I am the shed I want to build for my son Ben.

~ Mark Gorman

June 4, 2010

The Dancing Inside

The music is stopped, it is dark inside.

The rainbow of tones makes an arc inside.

The dancers are poised, their bodies attuned;

The notes hang on paper like a mark inside.

Sweet monsoons of sweat pour from their brows.

The moon shadows move starkly inside.

Low lights recessed in the nooks flicker from the walls

Made of logs with rugs hanging from the bark inside.

The band rests and returns. The saxophone start

And the dancers respond to the ascending lark inside;

Another rhumba, samba, salsa, foxtrot and tango

Shakes them to shifting dunes and parts inside.

~Clare Wilmot Goreau

September 21, 2010

 A Letter from Clare About Her Experiences with Writing and Other Arts at DHMC:

Dear Marv,

I went on the website and John Fox's first poem... describes what you did for me. As much as you helped technically, you "deeply listened" to my reluctance to join you, and persuaded me with your elegant teaching.

I was not set up to write anything, without you facilitating it. My whole outlook was in "lockdown" mode. I did not want to acknowledge all the horror of disease, chemo, radiation, needles, operations, body responses to smells, fever, food, IV's, pills, side effects, complications and mortality. The kind, professional way you visited and persuaded with your knowledge and reflections on life etc. drew out a few poems from me, that really hit a chord inside the emotional me... The personal satisfaction moved me through the above aversions to a safe place to contemplate them...and see more interesting vistas... i.e. DANCING !!

A doctor on the week long mentorship programme with Ira Byock asked if all the Healing Arts Programme was just about distraction! I suggested that she sit and talk to those who had experienced the power of transforming a revulsion into coping with the events they had experienced, by using the effective arm{s} of the Programme and see if she thought differently!  Those long months in the hospital were bearable with the thought that one of the Programme Artists would be in to see me SOON!!!  The quality of my perceived instruction was like that of a University Course in the Humanities...

Send John Fox this letter. He has to know that there are needs in the soul of every person, especially when struck down with illness or other tragedies, that need to be met by artistic midwives like the Artists in the Dartmouth Hitchcock Healing Arts Programme.

The individual often is too burdened to know the needs or the joy of having unknown needs met!!

I am honoured to have been tutored by you and my poem favoured by John Fox.

Thanks a million,

Clare Wilmot Goreau

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"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

Did you make it to the end of our wonderful newsletter?  Perhaps you have removed your shoes and are relaxing with a cup of tea?

Each time I collaborate with John to create one of these newsletters, I find myself in awe at the evidence of how this fine work  is traveling and taking root across the country in diverse settings.  I hope our news inspires and instills hope in you; enlivens and stimulates your own ideas for poetic medicine in your personal and professional lives!

As you take your last sip of tea and end your reading here, I'm imagining a smile on your face... perhaps even the sound of your laughter!  With that in mind, I'd like to invite you to imagine  

Mr. Fox in his Socks by clicking on the following: