Poetry and Healing Class with John Fox

John F. Kennedy University
Arts & Consciousness Program

Berkeley, California

Friday Evening, April 29:  6:00pm - 10:00pm

Saturday, April 30:  10:00am - 6:30pm

Sunday, May 1:  10:00am - 6:30pm

Poetic language, language that comes from the heart, has the potential, the natural ability in fact, to circulate everywhere. The nuance of metaphor becomes a revived capillary that relieves numbness and returns feeling to one's life. Whether it occurs one-to-one or in a group, poetry provides a way to explore numbness or feeling in a sensitive and creative response to life as it unfolds. Such interaction is distilled and enhanced by poetry - as it is by all the creative arts. All are welcome - no previous experience with poetry is required.

"The recognition of beauty in language is healing.  The ancient

Greeks said that 'beautiful language' could induce sophrosyne, 

from Poetic Medicine, "There Is a Secret One Inside of Us"

Location:  John F. Kennedy University, Berkeley Campus

                   College of Graduate and Professional Studies

                   Arts & Consciousness Program  

                   2956 San Pablo Avenue, 2nd Floor

                   Berkeley, CA 94702

Fee:           $150 JFK University Alumni/ $360 for the General Public   

                   (Call for non-degree credit prices)

Registration Deadline:  Registration ends Friday, March 25th, 2011

(Note:  There is a late registration fee of $105 on or after the start of Spring quarter, Monday, April 4th).

For Registration & Questions:  

Please Contact Sherri Hansell at:

E-mail:  shansell@jfku.edu

Phone:  (510) 647-2044 

To Download a Flyer of this Class:        CLICK HERE 

To Download a PDF Class Syllabus:      CLICK HERE

~ There Are 15 Spaces Available; Please Register Soon! ~ 

The Arts & Consciousness Program, at John F. Kennedy University, Berkeley Campus, offers a Master of Arts (MA) in Transformative Arts. The MATA addresses a growing cultural imperative that art must reassume its integral position in the community. See suggested links later in this journal for more information.  

Seeing Takes Time:

A Writing to Heal Workshop  

Cleveland, OH

Saturday, May 7th:     10:00am-5:00pm 

 Sunday, May 8th:         9:30am-12:00pm

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 

A gift of poetry is that it encourages us to take our time.  We can take our time to not only see a small flower, but see and feel the richness of the world and of the person whose shoulder is next to yours.  Writing poetry allows us to reflect upon our lives and varied experiences.  Sharing our poems with one another, we take time to listen to a friend.  It is a great gift, this kind of listening.  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:  A private home in Cleveland Heights; call for more information.  

We can order lunch from a deli or you can bring a bag lunch. 

Fee:           $160 for full workshop (Friday-Sunday)  

                   Note:  There are two sliding scale scholarships available. 

For Registration & Questions:  

Please Contact John Fox at:

E-mail:  john@poeticmedicine.org 

Phone:  (530) 383-4668  

To Download a PDF Flyer for this Class:       CLICK HERE  

During his time in Cleveland, John is offering a few individual "poetic medicine" consultations.  These sessions are available between May 9-16.  The fee is $60 per hour.  To find out more, please contact him at:   john@poeticmedicine.org          

July 8-10, 2011  

Portland, OR 

MY LOOKING RIPENS THINGS:

Being a Healing Catalyst Through Poem-Making

Sponsored by The Institute for Earth Regenerative Studies 

The Garden Sanctuary 

Portland, OR

Photo by Leslie Oelsner  

(Visit Geoff Oelsner's website to see more photos by Leslie:  CLICK HERE)   

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

from Rilke's Book of Hours,  

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

*Friday attendance is open and stand-alone.  If you plan to attend the entire workshop, please register for both Friday and Saturday. 

We can order lunch from a local deli/sandwich shop  or participants may bring a brown bag lunch. 

Registration is limited to 15!   

 Note:  There are 2 sliding scale scholarships available; please contact Marna Hauk (below). 

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 30 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 workshop is not limited to but will be very useful to people in healthcare, pastoral care, therapists of all descriptions, and community activists.

 

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 

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 at Rivendell, July 18-22, 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 those are not requirements!  This retreat will inspire and be useful to anyone who wants to use poetic medicine in a more expansive way.

See entire description in the above Portland, Oregon workshop entry. 

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:   

Ray McGinnis 

#403  2095 Beach Ave. 

Vancouver, B.C.  BC V6G1Z3  Canada 

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 

 (Click Here to View A Trailer of the Film)

October 2, 2011  

Los Angeles, CA  

Location:   

The Los Angeles Poets & Writers Collective

6535 Wilshire Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 

Fee:  $70.00 (CEU's are available for MFT's and LCSW's). 

For Information and To Register:

Please contact Robert Carroll at:

E-Mail:  RobertCarroll@att.net  

Robert Carroll, M.D. is both a poet and a psychiatrist.  His work represents a synthesis of poetry, healing, and transformative experience.  He is on the Clinical Faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at UCLA School of Medicine and has a private practice of Family Psychiatry in Westwood, CA.  Robert is the author of Amazing Change:  Poetry of Healing and Transformation, The Wisdom that Illness, Death and Dying Provide.   (CLICK HERE) 

Perie Longo, LMFT, RPT has been leading poetry workshops for over twenty-five years with the Santa Barbara Writer's Conference and California Poets in the Schools.  She is the past president of the National Association for Poetry Therapy and is a marriage and family therapist in Santa Barbara, CA.  Perie is the author of With Nothing Behind But Sky (read a book review by Carol Katz on the IPM website by CLICKING HERE) and The Privacy of Wind (CLICK HERE). 

October 7-8, 2011  

Ithaca, New York 

 Friday, October 7:         7:00pm - 9:30pm

Saturday, October 8:   10:00am-5:00pm

Poem-making, when approached as a healing and transformational process, rather than with analysis and judgment, provides an opportunity for deep inner healing.  It encourages connection and meaning.  This is especially true when we share this experience within a community of listeners who respond with care and curiosity.  All are welcome, no previous experience with poetry is required.  This could be especially useful for people in healing professions.

Location:

Unitarian Church

208 East Buffalo St. (In the high school annex, 2nd floor)

Ithaca, NY  

Fee:  Friday Only - $20.00; Friday & Saturday - $120.00

Checks Should To Be Made Out To:    

The Institute for Poetic Medicine 

For Information and To Register:

Please contact Mira McEwan at:

E-Mail:  mmcewan@twcny.rr.com

Phone:  (607) 273-5291

To Download A Flyer for This Event:   CLICK HERE 

October 14-15, 2011  

Duanesberg, NY 

October 27-30, 2011  

Menlo Park, CA  

Being A Healing Catalyst Through Poem-Making

Sponsored by The Institute for Poetic Medicine 

at Vallombrosa Retreat Center

Menlo Park, CA

Thursday, October 27:  Program begins at 5:00pm

                        Sunday, October 30:     Program concludes at 12:00pm

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, therapy of all description, and community activists.  But those are not requirements!  This retreat will inspire and be useful to anyone who wants to use poetic medicine in a more expansive way.

Location:  Vallombrosa Retreat Center

                    250 Oak Grove Ave.

                    Menlo Park, CA  94025-2259

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 

For Information & To Register:

Please Contact John Fox at:

Phone:  (530) 383-4668
E-Mail:  john@poeticmedicine.org

To Download a Flyer of this Event:   CLICK HERE 

Book Reviews

Hunger Speaks   

by Carolyn Jennings  

Reviewed by Carol Katz 

Carolyn Jennings has been journaling for more than twenty years. This vital writing tool has helped her to recover from a debilitating binge eating disorder. This is the book that she would like to have read when in the throes of her illness and tumultuous recovery. She has an intimate knowledge of pain but, thankfully, she has also experienced the joy of recovery. Since she had to face her crisis alone, she decided to tell her coping methods to the rest of the world. Therefore, she has branched out from personal writing to giving workshops on journal techniques. From reading her poems and emails and in hearing her voice on the phone, I get the impression of a warm, friendly, helpful and compassionate person.

The cover illustration deserves our attention. The artist, Rosanne Sterne, depicts a person in bright orange, reds and yellows contrasted with more subdued blues, greens and purple. Her facial features are fragmented into these colors. Her hands, raised upward, are holding a round orange ball. Through color, contour lines, and gesture, Sterne conveys feelings of tension and relief.  Its title:   

A Celebration of Life.  According to Jennings, her book is the story of healing and a celebration of recovery.

The uniqueness of Hunger Speaks, Jenning's first book, is that it is a memoir told in poetry. I found myself rereading the poems in order to absorb the author's expressive language and the many layers of meaning. They appeal to the reader to embrace the healing power of poetry.  According to the author, The poems voice the pain and record the way out.  And:  Hunger speaks in many tongues and codes. Each poem is a slice of memory, a passing perception slanted through my eyes... (p.9, Introduction).

The book is full of vivid, stark imagery and metaphors. Hunger has a voice and body parts. Hunger Speaks is my hand reaching out to hold yours in the cradle of understanding...Let your hunger speak to you, and let your recovery break you open to beauty, strength, and peace (p.15, Introduction).

Verbal imagery throughout the book is evident from the first poem titled, Sailing. For example:

hold it to the light, turn it in my hands

as if it were a ship built inside a bottle

held upright by delicate filaments...(p.17)

She talks about oceans of recovery and silhouettes of skyscrapers like blank pages of a book. Her language flows like a river with silent waves. For example, from Marriage Rhythm:

In the dark, the rhythm of your breathing

cradles me, exhalation

like the candle of your words

when you open to me, inhalation

like the long legs of silence

when you listen (p.22)

We delve into the poet's mind to a better understanding of our own emotions and behaviors. Her poetic expression is bold, brave and honest. For example, from

A Fan Unfolding

bisect

...mysterious month-long tummy-ache gone

with the tumor. In its place is a slash,

flesh pressed together

by a braid of black stitches

from just above the unmapped unknown

between my legs to just above my belly button (p.43).

And the last part of the same poem, bikinis:

Summers of others'

first bikinis and midriffs 

unfolds into

my time to hide (p.45).

In places wilder than home, creaks and groans

of frog song come to me: dusk to dawn

musicals in a monastery garden, fragments

through New Zealand rain, today

from the mountain marsh

down the path below the window

Note the beautiful descriptive alliteration: musicals in a monastery, dusk to dawn, and mountain marsh. We can actually hear the creaks and groans of the frog song if we listen closely.

We cannot help but feel the deep longing for friendship, even from a stranger, in The Grace of Gesture:

I pull forward, belted behind

steel and glass, longing

to be seen and greeted, hungering

to open myself like a gift

to another, thirsting

On page 30, the author incorporates silences between stanzas. This poem is fraught with such deep-seated emotion that we need a break to absorb her thoughts and to think:

I fear he will see

I've somehow become

eat   drink   smile   gulp   numb,

all hunger, no self.

On cue

My best girlhood people-pleaser

...Alone for days,

my pen and I let frogs dictate

poems. Uninvited, loneliness

crashes the party, cloaking herself

in her usual costume, a shove

toward kitchen cupboards...

...I listen to the song of my own

longing. I take loneliness

for a stroll. I hold her...(p.143).

Here she gives loneliness a voice and a personality.  In another verse she compares herself to a frog soaking up the damp, sweet earth. She tells loneliness that she is no longer scared. I tuck her (loneliness) into the chambers of my throbbing heart (p. 144).

But the poem that speaks to me the most is titled Mirror, one of the last ones. To me it is the epitome of the poet's will to release herself from the bottomless pit of hunger, to find a self that she likes and to tell shame that she is no longer needed. Her appetite for food is satiated and she no longer has to binge eat to relieve her emptiness. Her husband loves her body and so does she:

...more often in a glimpse after showering, before dressing,

free of lines and colors of clothing to cut or distract from curves,

        moments come

when the mirror reflects

        the me my husband sees

like the aha! figure emerging from an optical illusion...(p.121).

I head into my day, and I hope she remains

        in the mirror at just that angle in just that light

presenting her luminous self not for my husband's perusal

                  but for my extended embrace (p.122).

Hunger Speaks is a must read from beginning to end by all who are or who have suffered not only from an eating disorder but also from any other illness. The imaginative, provocative, stark and descriptive poetic language is an inspiration to other writers. Therefore it is befitting that this book won several awards, including three from the Colorado Independent Publishers Association, the EVVY for memoirs, a Merit Award for Poetry, and the Past President's Award, which goes to the one book with the highest score from the judges in any category- -in other words, "best in show." It also placed as a finalist in the poetry category of the National Indie Excellence Awards.

(Reviewed by Carol Katz, Montreal, October 2010)

To Read More About this Book or Purchase It:   

CLICK HERE

To Visit the National Eating Disorders Website:

CLICK HERE

To Go To A Special Section Featuring Carolyn & Her Poetry on the National Eating Disorders Website:   CLICK HERE   

Thank you to Carol Katz for her skill and care in reviewing this important work by Carolyn Jennings.  To read more about Carol and see other book reviews by her on the IPM website:   CLICK HERE  

The Long Hello ~ The Other Side

of Alzheimer's

by Cathie Borrie    

"A masterpiece...an absorbing and fascinating account, beautifully written and of value to all engaged in the care of Alzheimer's patients."

~ Dr. D. A. Henderson, Professor of Medicine & Public Health, University of Pittsburgh

In this shimmering jewel of a memoir, author Cathie Borrie traverses rich terrain as she unearths the hidden and often painful treasures of a life well lived: the shadows and joys of childhood, the relationships that leave us both illuminated and bereft, the love, longing and loss that surge to the fore when a parent is ailing.  Memory, and the losing of it, serves as a powerful guide, and Borrie follows her mother's eccentric and poetic lead into the past, transformed by the unexpected brilliance of the elder woman's shifting dementia mind.  A paean of redemptive beauty, The Long Hello cherishes the bond between mothers and daughters, and creates a startling change in society's perception of those journeying through Alzheimer's.  

To Read More About The Long Hello:   CLICK HERE

looking into your voice ~ the poetic and eccentric realities of alzheimer's

by Cathie Borrie 

This beautiful poem of a book is a collection of conversations offering alternative and beautiful insights into the Alzheimer's mind. Celebrating the revelatory eloquence of the altered realities of dementia, these vignettes are from Cathie Borrie's lyrical memoir, The Long Hello ~ The Other Side of Alzheimer's, which chronicles and cherishes the relationship between a mother and daughter over a seven-year period as the mother's mind transforms and her dementia increases. The mother's voice weaves throughout the memoir with insight, humor and an astonishing poetic sensibility, challenging the negative stereotypes pervasive in the current and often limiting geography of dementia.

To Read More About looking into your voice:   CLICK HERE

Cathie Borrie devotes her immense energies to educating people on the experience of Alzheimer's and Alzheimer's care-giving.  She is dedicated to galvanizing a positive, enlightened change in society's perception of dementia. Born in Vancouver, Cathie has had an extensive and diverse working life, which includes careers in health, law and business.  Beginning as a nurse, she went on to attain a Masters of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, graduated from Law School at the University of Saskatchewan and has her Certificate in Creative Writing from Simon Fraser University.

A creative spirit, Cathie is also an accomplished ballroom dancer, and

has dabbled in clowning and theater. Her education and career experience did not, however, prepare her for the seven years she spent caring for her mother, who had Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.  Many of the Alzheimer's books that she read during her care-giving years did not address the totality of the journey, neglecting as they did to reveal the unfolding poetry and beauty of her mother's walk with dementia. In choosing to write a lyrical memoir of her experiences, Cathie elected not only to explore the spiritual insight made possible by the Alzheimer's journey, but also mined her past to weave the loss of a sibling, the impact of divorce on children, the effects of alcoholism on relationships, and the healing power of dance, into a rich narrative. Cathie has presented at international conferences on Alzheimer's, and works tirelessly as an advocate for both people with Alzheimer's and their caregivers.  As part of her determination to change public perception, she is adapting The Long Hello for stage and screen.

To Visit Cathie Borrie's Website:   CLICK HERE

Hummingbird Tattoo: Erotic Haiku

by Ellery Littleton

please undo

just one more

button

Reviewed by John Fox 

Ellery Littleton's erotic haiku will take you to places further and deeper down and in than even undone buttons. However, because Littleton takes his time to see and feel, every line you'll read in this finely made, loving and fun book, is indeed, like a button being undone.

Here's what I say: Why not have such pleasure last? We are, generally speaking, so bereft of pleasure in our culture, missing the delights of eros and a deep sexual connection to our bodies - these haiku are a way to replenish your body memory and ignite the best of our human passion for one another.

What I appreciate about these gems is that Littleton also lets in the broken heart and the human insecurity which often attends our most intimate encounters.

He offers us plenty of humor and captures in so few words those small and treasured moments that help lovers wake up to the light in one another's eyes - as they fall for each other again and again.

~ John Fox

author of Poetic Medicine: The Healing Art of Poem-making

Ellery Littleton lives in Victoria, BC, Canada. Way out on the west coast (or "left coast" as it is sometimes called), on the edge of the Pacific, on the edge of the rainforest, on the edge of the new awareness - where a synthesis of North American and Asian influences takes place. Maybe that's why so much of Ellery's writing is infused with Asian influences. Trained as a teacher, majoring in English and History, Ellery taught high school in British Columbia for ten years, and History at the University of Victoria for two years.

In 1975, he began writing full-time as a profession, and in that year became the first staff writer for Victoria's popular Monday Magazine. In a long career as a professional writer, Ellery has moved from writing for advertising agencies, magazines and newspapers, to working in the communication departments of government ministries and crown corporations, to freelancing all over the west coast for a host of clients, large and small. He is also the author of Riverwalk and Old Rocks, New Streams.

News & Updates

From IPM Friends & Poetry Partners   

Relief and Educational Efforts in Haiti

~ A Follow Up Report ~

A few weeks ago, Melissa Layer, IPM Journal Constant Contact designer, suggested we include a follow-up piece on the work IPM friend Diane Allerdyce, Ph.D., is doing in Haiti through Toussaint L'Ouverture High School for Arts & Social Justice (TLHS), the charter school she helped found in Boynton Beach, Florida.  We featured this direct action relief work in Haiti very soon after the devastating earthquake last year.    

This is Diane's report.  Of course, while Haiti slowly and achingly regains some of its resilient spirit and capacity to function, our hearts are broken again these days because of the tragedy occurring in Japan, and shortly before that, on the north island of New Zealand.  May our prayers and poems extend around this planet we share.

John Fox

The Institute for Poetic Medicine

March 12, 2011

 Children in Kolera, Haiti (near Dominican border)

Photo by Diane Allerdyce 

As leaders of  Toussaint L'Ouverture High School for Arts & Social Justice (TLHS), a ten-year-old Florida charter school that serves mostly young adult secondary English Language Learners (ELL) from Haiti and other Caribbean regions, we have developed a program to help teachers both in Florida and in Haiti learn to use dialogue to enhance their students' learning.  

CLICK HERE to visit the school's website

After Haiti's earthquake in January 2010, our school, through the non-profit organization that we created to operate it, served as a hub for aid to Haiti.  Concerned people from all of the United States, including friends of the Institute of Poetic Medicine, sent donations that allowed us to take medical supplies, clothing, personal hygiene items, and instructional supplies to Haiti. We have been to Haiti four times since then.

Even before the earthquake that ravaged the students' home country, our efforts in Haiti (and in Florida) have focused on education because we believe that it is through education that true change and healing can occur.  

For the past year, we have been developing a bi-lingual (English and Haitian Creole) DVD series for use in Haiti. Our projects, "Teaching by Heart in Haiti" and "Teaching by Heart at TLHS" provide a forum for teachers at TLHS and those at our "sister" schools in Haiti to share their ideas and stories with each other. A particular focus is to facilitate teachers' exploration of their own and their students' need for increased interactivity and voice as vehicles for transformative learning.

You can view two PDF's describing our programs in greater detail by clicking on these links:

CLICK HERE   (Teaching by Heart)

CLICK HERE   (Institutional Scholarship Opportunities)  

Etienne France, Espwa School Director (L)

Dieunet Demosthene (R) 

(Photo by Diane Allerdyce) 

Our most recent trip was extremely productive and rewarding. With Dieunet Demosthene, TLHS's accountant who is also a poet, teacher, and translator, I (Diane Allerdyce, poet, CAO and cofounder of TLHS) traveled back to Port-au-Prince on February 23, 2011, for an 8-day trip consisting of a series of meetings and training sessions at various schools with whom we have developed relationships.  After visiting a school in the capital city and checking on the progress of a young man whose education we are sponsoring and monitoring, we boarded a bus for the 4-hour ride to the southern part of the country, where we work with several schools in Les Cayes.

Mr. "D" ( Dieunet Demosthene, pictured above), my colleague/interpreter and accountant, shares the following perspective as a Haitian-American:

"As an individual of Haitian descent, it is a great privilege given to me by Teaching by Heart in Haiti to be able to travel to Haiti offering training to teachers and administrators as a way to give back to the country that has given me so much. The kind of training seminars the programs offer are those that are urgently needed to revamp the crumbling educational system of Haiti from a bottom-up approach. I strongly believe that among many of the avenues that can facilitate changes to occur in Haiti, the most assured and promising that would yield the greatest result is through education. It is equally important to teach students critical thinking skills that will allow them to explore ideas, and to make discoveries on their own. I also believe that democracy is directly related to education, whereas when people are not well educated, they make poor choices and decisions leading to shame, deceit, and failure. The same is true when they are well educated; they are able to effectively contribute to their own development and to the development of those around them, including participation in the democratic process that is constantly shaping their life and that of their children. There is no doubt that Teaching by Heart's approaches are

the antidote to a dying Haiti's educational system."  

Diane Allerdyce (with computer) with teachers at Espwa Haiti School

(Photo by Dieunet Demosthene) 

One of the schools is that of the orphanage Espwa Haiti (CLICK HERE), where we conducted a two-day seminar series that was perhaps the best of the many sessions we have conducted there over the past 2 ½ years. Our relationship with the hardworking, dedicated, intelligent, and motivated teachers at this amazing educational center is ongoing and vibrant.  

We also work with the St. Jerome school in town, the Sisters Salasion schools, and village leaders in the nearby mountaintop village of Tricon.

We consider that this was one of our most successful trips so far, and we look forward to continuing our efforts to help our close neighbor, Haiti, as she strives for the equality and justice she, like everyone, deserves.

Links of Additional Interest:  

To Read Letters From Haiti - One Year Later - on the Patheos Website:    CLICK HERE

To View a Video Entitled "In Chaos of Post-Earthquake Haiti, Artists Create Poetry Amid Rubble" on the PBS Newshour Website:  

CLICK HERE

IPM Poetry Partner Annie Holden 

An IPM Poetry Partner Tells Her Inspiring Story

About Working at the 2100 Lakeside Homeless Shelter for Men

In Cleveland, Ohio 

by Annie Holden 

The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox

In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.

The revolution will be live.

~ Gil Scott Haren

from The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

On Shakespeare's birthday, April 23, 2009, my 30-year bookstore career ended abruptly. A month later I volunteered as a scribe for John Fox at his annual poetry workshop at a local men's shelter.  John and poetry launched me into the next phase of my life - I just didn't recognize it at the time.

I cannot really describe the light that filled those rooms in the cement block building among warehouses in downtown Cleveland. It was a long way from a shiny, brightly lit, car-choked mall in the suburbs where I had been selling books. The undeniable power of spoken and written poetry was fully revealed to me at the shelter.  

Men who had not attempted poetry before wrote feelingly. Sharing their poems out loud, the listeners sanctioned their life experience and strong emotions freshly expressed.  Heads nodded in recognition, there were laughs, grunts, throat clearing.

I was smitten, I was hooked, I was a goner, and so, with the two other volunteers who scribed for John, we spontaneously agreed to continue the poetry workshop on a regular basis.   

Shortly after that I was invited by John and the Board of The Institute for Poetic Medicine to participate in the poetry partner program which provided program start-up funds at 2100 Lakeside.  It took us a few weeks of meetings, researching poems, and debating approaches until Finding Voice Poetry Workshop was born June 2009.  

It has been 22 months since I first came to 2100 Lakeside Men's Shelter as a poetry facilitator. Despite continuous job searches and a 5-month gig as a Census worker, I rejoiced in the bi-weekly Finding Voice workshops.  

In October 2010, I was offered a position as a VISTA volunteer at the shelter. It was not a permanent job with high paying salary and all the trimmings; in fact, it was a poverty wage package for a year only but I took it because through poetry, writing and regular contact with the residents and staff of the shelter, I could not imagine being anywhere else.

As a VISTA, I work with Lydia Bailey, the Volunteer Coordinator and Michael Sering, the Director of the shelter, doing community outreach, developing programs for residents, and writing grants.  I gratefully continue my work with Finding Voice. I have archived the men's poems since June of 2009 and we are going to publish a selection of them this spring.

I'm From

I'm from Hallelujah anyhow

Hand-me-downs and pick-me-ups

From red dirt and wild horses

And pray for me and pray

for yourself, boy!

Driving home with tears

in your eyes--

Hallelujah anyhow.

~ Rhett Young

Finding Voice Poetry Workshop

4/28/10

One of the poetry leaders has extended the writing process to include creative writing and journaling classes. She also coordinated a book discussion group that completed 9 books in 6 months.  We have a current events discussion group that meets weekly; a meditation class that employs music and the spoken word into the discipline.  

And we have more venues for the writing to be shared on the website of the parent organization, Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, and in the newly revised homeless newspaper, the Cleveland Street Chronicle. There is a devoted circle of poets and writers in the shelter.

My life is so much richer now, immeasurably so, since poetry and service joined together as a unique gift waiting for me at 2100 Lakeside Men's Shelter. You could not have told me 3 years ago that I would be engaged in the words of poets in this setting. But it is pure joy to move from the buying and selling of books themselves to actually making use of what lay between their covers in the service of revelation, healing, and connection with a temporary population not expected to pay attention to those things. Poetry and John Fox brought me here and I am staying.

To read Annie's inspiring full story about her work at 2100 Lakeside Men's Shelter, CLICK HERE to go to our July, 2010 Newsletter. 

Jack Straw Productions

Seattle, WA

In collaboration with Merna Anne Hecht, who has led the immensely successful

Youth Voices:  Stories of Arrival Project for three years, the great people at

Jack Straw Productions have made it possible for immigrant teens at Foster High School to record their poems/voices and receive professional coaching in the reading of their poems.

This treasuring of these young people's voices makes a profound difference. 

Jack Straw provides other kinds of technical expertise and support born of human kindness.  Our thanks to Joan Rabinowitz, Levi Fuller, and everyone at Jack Straw!

~ John Fox

 Fifth Graders from Montlake Elementary School

Produce a Radio Play in the Jack Straw Productions' Studios

(Photo by Sherwin Eng)

Jack Straw Productions is the Northwest's only non-profit multidisciplinary audio arts center. A community-based resource since 1962, we provide a production facility that is unlike any other in the region for local artists who work creatively with sound. Jack Straw focuses on annual artist residencies through our Artist Support Program, our Writers Program, and our Gallery Residency Program; art and technology education for all ages; arts heritage partnerships; and radio production. Our full-service recording studio is also available year-round for a range of arts projects.  

~ Jack Straw Writer's Workshop ~ 

Jack Straw Productions Teaching Artist Alyssa Keene  

Coaches a 2011 Jack Straw Writer on Vocal Performance   

(Photo By Sherwin Eng) 

Our unique arts, education, and heritage programs stem from our background in community radio, ethnomusicology, arts, and technology. We are a critical resource for artists seeking to expand their work with audio. Our residency programs provide over 100 artists a year with the support and opportunity to create and present new work. Residents in our Writers Program receive training and opportunities for bringing their work off the page, such as live readings, our annual anthology, and our podcast series. Our education programs combine personal stories, art, and technology into unique integrated curricula for schools, specialized programs for youth with disabilities and English Language Learners, and professional audio workshops for adults. Our community programs help organizations with preservation and interpretive materials such as audio guides.

Among current and recent projects are the 15th year of the Jack Straw Writers Program; literary audio projects, such as a trilingual (Zapotec-Spanish-English) CD of poems, CDs of essays and poetry, and a sound installation in our gallery featuring music and poetry; recording stories and poems by Kimball Elementary and Foster High School students; expansion of our education programs for Youth with Disabilities and English Language Learners; museum audio guides; production of our Sonarchy and Green ACRE radio programs; and oral history and preservation projects with DENSHO and the Center for Wooden Boats.

Foster High School English Language Learner

Reads Her Poem in the Jack Straw Productions Studio 

           (Photo by Sherwin Eng)   

Contact Us:

Jack Straw Productions

4261 Roosevelt Way NE

Seattle, WA 98105-6999

Phone: (206) 634-0919

Fax: (206) 634-0925

jsp@jackstraw.org 

www.jackstraw.org 

CLICK HERE  

To Sign Up For Our E-news 

Write to the Heart

with Ray McGinnis 

Writing the Sacred: A Psalm-inspired Path

to Appreciating and Writing Sacred Poetry Workshop Tour

 As a veteran workshop leader, Ray McGinnis offers you engaging writing exercises to spark your imagination and creativity. Ray brings to this workshop simple step-by-step writing exercises will help your write with ease and explore the thin spaces where creative writing and spirituality meet. This workshop is designed for both those who enjoy writing and those who have never put pen to paper. Enjoy the spaciousness of a quiet encounter with the writer within as you give voice to the cries of your own spirit.  Ray serves on the advisory board of The Institute for Poetic Medicine. 

Ray McGinnis is author of Writing the Sacred:   CLICK HERE 

To visit Ray's website:   CLICK HERE 

Ray's current workshop tour includes these upcoming dates:

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Trinity Episcopal Cathedral

81 North Second Street,

San. Jose, California

To Register: 408-293-7953

Poetry on the Big Island:  A Poetry & Nature Adventure Workshop

on the Big Island of Hawaii

December 5-10, 2011

Kalani Oceanside Retreat  (CLICK HERE) 

Puna County, HI

To Register:  E-Mail Ray McGinnis at:   rmcgin@telus.net

At this Big Island poetry and nature adventure retreat you'll explore how poetry can be a catalyst, a lure, for self-expression. You'll discover how taking time to write a poem can be a way of taking time for yourself. Together with other nature adventurers, you'll be invited to pay attention to how poetry offers a way to integrate perspectives, wisdom and language dwelling within you that might go unexpressed if you didn't take the time to write.

You'll visit ocean shores and tide pools with their splendid sea creatures, flora and fauna. You'll ponder the trail of ancient volcanic eruptions and walk on some of the newest land on earth. You'll listen to the sounds of nature and enjoy the lush tropical vegetation and write down what the Big Island teaches you, as it offers similes and metaphors for life. Each day you'll have adventures in nature, breathe in experience and breathe out poetry.

Relax, let go and feel the healing, loving spirit of Hawaii and the Big Island. Included in this 5-day big island retreat are: daily poetry sessions, 4 nature adventure excursions, 3 delicious buffet daily meals and use of Kalani's facilities including Olympic size pool, sauna and 2 hot tubs.

Note:  A post-Big Island Poetry & Nature Adventure workshop will also be available for visiting the Waipi'o Valley on December 10 to 11, 2011 (see below).

Poetry on the Big Island:  A Poetry workshop & Waipi'o Adventure

on the Big Island of Hawaii

December 10-11, 2011

Kalani Oceanside Retreat  (CLICK HERE) 

Puna County, HI

To Register:  E-Mail Ray McGinnis at:   rmcgin@telus.net

Waipi'o Valley is located along the Hamakua Coast on the northeastern coast of the BIg Island of Hawai'i.  It is the largest and southernmost of the seven valleys on the windward side of the Kohala Mountains.  Our adventure takes you to the bottom of the valley, in a 4WD vehicle, where you will discover a beautiful black sand beach, traditional agriculture (taro), and much more.  Dramatic cliffs reach almost 2000 feet and feature the most magnificent and highest waterfalls on the island: Hi'ilawe and Hakalaoa.  The valley is often referred to as the "Valley of the Kings" because it once was the home to the rulers of Hawai'i.  On this ten hour adventure, you'll sight-see and write poems in response to how the valley is speaking to you.  Return after a beautiful day in nature and soak in one of Kalani's hot tubs.

For Complete Workshop Description and Pricing:   CLICK HERE 

To Download PDF About the Workshops:   CLICK HERE 

To Download a Registration Form for the Workshops:    CLICK HERE 

Resources & Products    

FLOWER ESSENCE SERVICES

Nevada City, CA  

The Institute for Poetic Medicine is happy to let you know about these beautiful cards produced by Flower Essence Services -- that include many wonderful sayings and poems, including now, a stanza from John's poem "When Someone Deeply Listens to You."   

The first paragraph of Poetic Medicine acknowledges the complimentarity of words and healing essences.  I refer to homeopathy here but it applies equally to flower essences:   

 Poetry is a natural medicine; it is like a homeopathic tincture derived from the stuff of life itself - your experience.  Poems distill experience into the essentials. Our personal experiences touch the common ground we share with others.  The exciting part of this process is that poetry used in this healing way helps an individual integrate the disparate, even fragmented parts of their life.  Poetic essences of sound, metaphor, image, feeling and rhythm act as remedies that can elegantly strengthen our whole system-physical, mental and spiritual.

According to the Flower Essence Services' website, calendula flower essence's positive qualities include healing warmth and receptivity, especially in the use of the spoken word and in dialogue with others.       

We hear this from the folks at Flower Essence Services about the cards and

posters:

Flower essences heal the soul through their archetypal qualities and formative forces.  These same all-embracing archetypes are echoed by poets and visionaries in their Wordcraft.  We have married some of the most inspirational of these words to the masterful flower photography of Richard Katz.    

To Visit the Flower Essence Services Website and Learn More About Their Products:   CLICK HERE 

TRAVELING STANZAS

Kent State University's Wick Poetry Center 

Healing Stanzas is a collaborative project between Kent State University's Wick Poetry Center and Glyphix design studio. This series combines the creative talents of KSU Visual Communication Design students with student writers (grades 3-12), health care providers, medical students, patients, and veterans to encourage dialogue about the connection between art and medicine, writing and healing.

In our last IPM journal, we mentioned that a beautiful set of gift cards, dedicated to poetry as healer, were being developed based on this project.  We are delighted to show you the card here (one of a set of 12) that contains a portion of John's poem, "Lift the Banner of Your Heart."  

To Learn More About the Traveling Stanzas Project and Order the Cards:      CLICK HERE  

Cleveland's FusionFest 2011 to Feature Healing Stanzas!

April 13-23

Members of the Akron and Cleveland medical communities will read original poems and Healing Stanzas (including one by John Fox) as part of FusionFest 2011, an annual Cleveland festival that celebrates new works in music, dance, and theater. The performance, titled "Voices of Healing", will feature doctors, nurses, medical students, and patients reading poems they wrote in Wick Poetry Center outreach workshops.  

The "Voices of Healing" performance takes place April 14 at 6 p.m. in the Brooks Theatre, part of the Cleveland Play House complex. Tickets are $5 and are available by calling the box office at (216) 795-7000.

FusionFest takes place April 13-23 and, in addition to showcasing Wick Poetry Center outreach work, will feature the Cleveland Orchestra, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Verb Ballets, The Cleveland Museum of Art, and Groundworks Dance Theater.

To Read More About FusionFest on the Wick Poetry Center Site:

CLICK HERE 

To Read More About FusionFest on the Cleveland Play House Website: CLICK HERE 

IPM Recommended Links/Websites of People and Work We Appreciate For the Contribution  

They Make to Bringing More Life to Life!    

Every year since 1993 I have taught as adjunct faculty at

John F. Kennedy University.  The first five years I was in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology and then in 1997 I began a wonderful teaching connection with the Arts & Conscousness Program located at the Berkeley Campus. Arts & Consciousness is currently opening a faculty exhibition with artwork and poems (via me) and if you are in the SF Bay Area I recommend stopping by. Please read more below about A & C! 

~ John Fox

The Arts & Consciousness Program, at John F. Kennedy University, Berkeley Campus, offers a Master of Arts (MA) in Transformative Arts. The MATA addresses a growing cultural imperative that art must reassume its integral position in the community. The program develops the artist's creative work with a focus on healing and personal growth, and integrating philosophical and academic work. It prepares students to become facilitators of positive change in the world through art and the creative process. Our program is geared toward working adults: classes are held on evenings and weekends. Our small and intimate classes allow students and faculty to work closely together.

You may also visit the Arts & Consciousness Fan Page on Facebook here:   CLICK HERE 

ARTS & CONSCIOUSNESS FACULTY EXHIBITION 2011

The JFKU Berkeley Campus, located in the historic Heinz Ketchup Building, is at the "heart" of the Berkeley Community. The Arts & Consciousness Program has a gallery and offers community arts lecture series. The Arts & Consciousness Gallery features the work of students, alumni, faculty, and guest artists.

The Arts & Consciousness FACULTY EXHIBITION 2011 is an extraordinary opportunity to view the artwork of a faculty who have dedicated their teaching efforts in the A & C program to educating artists whose work is specifically aimed at effecting transformation through the artistic process and object. As a group of vibrant and contemporary artists, they hold the collective belief that the arts have the power to transform society - the individual, the community, the culture and the environment. The poetry of John Fox is included in this faculty exhibition. 

Faculty Exhibition:

 Featuring work by John Fox & ten other faculty members!

Faculty Exhibition Days/Hours:  

March 18 - April 16, 2011  

Monday - Saturday, 12 - 5 p.m.

Location:

Arts & Consciousness Gallery

John F. Kennedy University - Berkley Campus

2956 San Pablo Ave. (2nd Floor)

Berkley, CA

Gallery Information:

(510) 647-2047

CreativeAffirmations, Create The Life You Choose 

with Danea Horn   

Affirmations -- The Power of Your Own Words

If you don't start, you can't play

    If you don't play, you can't win.   

~ James Fadiman
   from Unlimit Your Life   

Danea Horn is involved with bringing out the very best in whoever or whatever situation she is involved in.  She knows the territority of going through damanding physical challenges as a young child and seems to be able to offer encouragement to anyone going through the wide range of difficulties that most humans face.  Her understanding of affirmations and the dynamic embracing of a positive attitude have slowly become a natural way of life for her.  She is truly worth visiting on a daily basis.    

To enjoy her "Creative Affirmations, Create the Life You Choose" CLICK HERE 

(From John Foos, father of Danea Horn, and IPM supporter and long-time friend of John Fox.  John Foos and his partner, Rebecca Speer, have coordinated workshops in the San Diego and the North Bay area for 14 years).

Catch the Current

      with Bill E. Goldberg     

the vulnerability, beauty, and wisdom in us all."  

Bill is particularly sensitive to the value of poetry in the therapeutic experience and in the creative lives of his clients.  Bill E. Goldberg is author of The "And" Principle:  Celebrating a Spirituality that Embraces Our Humanity.  He is a licensed marriage and family therapist, writer and teacher.    

To Learn More About Bill and His Work:   CLICK HERE

To Read More About The "And" Principle:   CLICK HERE  

Healing Words Productions

Their work is intended to reach medical professionals of all kinds, as well as patients and their families. Through films and yearly conferences, Healing Words Productions has contributed deeply to showing what is possible. Their web site states:  "Healing Words producers were drawn together by their common interest in the connection between medicine and the expressive arts. Our goal is to produce documentaries on:

· medical programs that use poetry therapeutically;

· poets who have written poetry as a means of confronting and  

  understanding illness;

· poetry as a spiritual guide available to all people

We are here for all those who have been affected by illness--for doctors, nurses, hospice workers, caregivers, patients, their families and friends. We are here for poets and artists. We are here for everyone."

When we dance I forget about the pain

When we dance, I feel like it's a dream

When we dance all my thoughts go away

and our bodies are thinking together

~ Bertis McKay

Abbey of the Arts:

Invitation to a Poetry Party   

Of writing and offering poetry, Christine shares:  "I have always loved

poetry and consider it to be one of the great sacred texts in my life.  I believe so deeply what St. John of the Cross wrote:  'They can be like a sun, words./ They can do for the heart / what light can / for a field.' 

             (Photo by Christine)

My heart has been transformed by poems over and over again.  I often find a line from a poem shimmering before me and then deepening into it over time.  David Whyte's poem What to Remember When Waking had a powerful effect on me as I went through a time of discernment and kept hearing these words:  "What you can plan is too small for you to live."  It became a kind of mantra for me to hold plans loosely and open myself to a much bigger life that was awaiting me.  The Buddhist poet, Jane Hirshfield, writes about "the still heart that refuses nothing."  Those six words were enough food for several months of meditation on the ways in which I refuse life and my own longing for equanimity.

Writing is my primary art form.  Professionally I write prose, but draw on the inspiration of poetic rhythm and imagery to infuse how I express things.  I write poems more as prayers for myself; they emerge quietly in the open spaces of my journal pages.  I often find myself composing haikus in my mind when taking walks.

The Poetry Parties were inspired by my desire to create a safe space and inspiration for folks who wanted to express their hearts through poetry.  It actually began almost spontaneously.  I once posted a photo on my blog and a couple of people were inspired by it to write a poem.  I then began to experiment with posting images around a loose theme and invite folks into a communal space where poetry is celebrated.   

Each time I am stunned into silence by the beauty of what is shared by folks.  Over the last four years we often explore seasonal questions, as well as themes like honoring ancestors, odes to animal wisdom, and exploring fierceness and courage.  I have used a line from a poem or song along with a photo as a starting point, as well.   

My training is in the expressive arts which really draws upon the power of letting one art modality flow into another, deepening the experience.  Offering a photo and then inviting a poem flows from this awareness that art begets art.

The Institute for Earth Regenerative Studies

May our prayers, blessings, and offerings of hearts and hands comfort and support our Japanese brothers and sisters as they face destruction, loss, crisis, and uncertainty in their beautiful country.

May the annual blooming of their ancient cherry trees that is occurring at this very time as the Spring Equinox once again unfolds, be a source of encouragement and hope.  And we offer to you, in a spirit of gesture, a gesture of reaching out and lifting up, this poem:     

Elbows

The sacred quality

of arms, particularly

elbows that make

each of us working class,

put us here for a purpose.

Look at elbows

and what they say:

elbow your way

into the passive crowd

to do what is needed,

give it your elbow grease -

this is enough.

Elbows, no one can

possess them because

they can disappear and

you move them

into action by choice.

And that choice

is prayer in action.

To Make a Donation to the Japanese Earthquake & Tsunami Relief Fund Through Global Giving:      CLICK HERE

To View & Listen to a Lovely YouTube Featuring a Romanian Choir Singing a Japanese Folk Song About "Sakura" (Japanese Flowering Cherry):      CLICK HERE   

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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

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The Last Word...    

And when was the last time you memorized and recited a poem aloud like this?!

CLICK HERE 

Melissa Layer

IPM Constant Contact Designer