IPM Poetry Partners 

Lisa DeVuono ~ Krista Wissing ~ Merna Hecht

Lisa DeVuono 

The Clubhouse Model:
A Place for Poetry to Thrive 

 

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

Lisa DeVuono and Lu Mauro

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 fourteen 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.

Clubhouse Philosophy

The information in this section has been copied from the Clubhouse website at 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. 

Wellspring Clubhouse 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-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. 

Poetry as Wellness Curriculum

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

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 newfound 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 wandder freely

Moment to moment

Lost

Yet at home

Confident

Wild beast.

Writing of these trees

that know of light

so softly

swaying through

their branches

I dreamt the grass

was trying

somehow

trying

each blade below

to turn into

a tree.

Sadly when I woke

I counted the trees...

The number was the same.

~M

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.

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

New Discoveries

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. 

A Conversation with Dan Flore

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.  

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, 

I'll meet you there."

~ Reprinted from February 2011 Poetic Medicine Journal

To learn more about the Clubhouse Model for Mental Health:

click here, here, and here.

To learn about the specific Clubhouse where Lisa brought poetry as healer: click here

To learn more about Lisa DeVuono and her work: click here 

Poetry as a Tool for Recovery: 

An Easy-to-Use Guide in Eight Steps 

Lisa DeVuono is a Poetry Partner and long-time friend of The Institute for Poetic Medicine. IPM funded Lisa to write a concise guide to bringing poetry and poem-making to people whose voices are marginalized in the culture. The guidebook is called Poetry As a Tool for Recovery: An Easy-to-Use Guide in Eight Sessions. The board of IPM has voted to fund the printing of 260 + copies of this manual so that we may offer it to all Clubhouses in the United States and other English speaking countries. There will be additional copies available. 

While Lisa is the primary writer, she says in her acknowledgments that composing this book was a deep collaboration:

~

"In the Clubhouse model of rehabilitation we use a variety of strategies to assist people on their recovery journey, such as, the opportunity to perform meaningful work, social activities, outreach, employment  placement, education, and wellness programs. It was in the general area of the "wellness" component that  we found common ground. 

Lisa also expressed a deep appreciation for the mission and goals of the Clubhouse model, in particular our desire to move people from a place of "illness" to a place of "wellness" and to promote member leadership and empowerment. It was her understanding and appreciation of these core Clubhouse model values that led to the creation of this guide which would provide the tools to empower others-members, volunteers and staff-to facilitate the Poetry in Recovery workshops themselves or "side by side."

The goal of the Poetry in Recovery workshop is to facilitate the personal journey of individuals recovering from serious mental illness. Participants learn the value of having one's voice and feelings validated. They also learn the value of listening carefully, without judgment; to take risks; to build supportive relationships; to learn compassion for self and others; to be playful; to be grateful; and above all, to be hopeful."

~ Lu Mauro, Director, Wellspring Clubhouse, Sellersville, PA

~

"Our Clubhouses around the world are a "Place to Belong", with opportunities for meaningful relationships, work, and the support to once again be productive members of society.  Inherent to this is empowering members to "regain" their voice.  

During my many years with Magnolia Clubhouse, I have seen firsthand how poetry, for many of our members, is an important piece of how they share themselves with others. What a wonderful tool Lisa has created, in partnership with Wellspring Clubhouse and The Institute for Poetic Medicine.  This is a gift that will be used by many in our Clubhouse community on their recovery journey. Thank you Lisa."

~ Paula Feher, Magnolia Clubhouse Staff

   Clubhouse International Faculty

   Cleveland, Ohio 

~

"Lisa DeVuono's Poetry as a Tool for Recovery: An Easy-to-Use Guide in Eight Sessions is a concise training manual that is filled with a comprehensive program for using poetry to access one's wholeness, enhance well-being, and cultivate compassion for self and others. Although this protocol is based on a Clubhouse model of interacting with people with severe psychiatric histories, it is clear that the exercises, poetry, quotes, themes, discussion points and eight lesson plans can easily be applied to a work in many other contexts. This booklet is a treasure-written with care and compassion, skill and sensitivity-and will be an inspiration to anyone interested in the use of poetry and poem-making for healing."

~ Laury Rappaport, Ph.D., MFT, REAT, ATR-BC.

   Integrative Psychotherapist Institute for Health & Healing, Sutter Health.    Author of Focusing-Oriented Art Therapy; Mindfulness and the Arts          Therapies (Editor) and Faculty at Lesley University, Expressive
   Therapies for 30 Years. 

........

If you are interested in hearing more about Poetry As a Tool for Recovery,

please contact the Institute.

Krista Wissing, MFT

A Poetic Journey for People Living with Acquired Brain Injury

~ Charles Bukowski

Brain Injury Is a Tricky Bird

There are a number of things I've learned while working with people living with acquired brain injury (ABI). 

One. I take too much for granted. 

Two. Life can turn on a dime. 

Three. The experience of being seen and heard is a powerful antidote to the sense of otherness and isolation that often accompanies ABI.

The thing about ABI is that nine times out of ten there is no warning. Be it a head trauma, stroke, or a virus attacking the brain, ABI barrels in like an unexpected wind and divides one's life narrative into two-life before and life after brain injury. It's the kind of phenomena that rocks one's foundation to the core. 

The Rediscovery Project   

  

In partnership with the Institute for Poetic Medicine, The Kalliopeia Foundation, Bread for the Journey, Poets &Writers w/ The James Irvine Foundation and Brain Injury Network of the Bay Area (BINBA), the Rediscovery Project is an arts- based opportunity for people living with ABI to make meaning, reclaim their voice, and build community.

 

The group, which art therapist Midge Casler and I co-facilitated in 2012 and 2013, accommodate the special needs of those living with ABI. 

(Top) Talisman by Black Herod  from Week 2: A Talisman for the Journey  (Bottom)  Obstacles by Marie Gray from Week 3: Obstacles Along the Way

Through poetry and art, group members embark on a 10-week inner exploration loosely based on the "Hero's Journey," an archetypal and transformative journey initially coined by Joseph Campbell.

 

Why the Hero's Journey? In a sense we are all on a hero's journey. Its transformative potential, born of the dark night of the soul, is a possibility for each of us. The Hero's Journey belongs to the people, to being human - living with brain injury is one manifestation of it.

 

In 2012 and 2013, we invited Rediscovery Project participants to reflect upon and deepen their own transformative journey, in the midst of living with ABI, through the following curriculum. 

  

The first year included these themes: 

 

Week 1: The Hero's Call to Adventure

Week 2: The Illusion of "Normal"

Week 3: Allies and Muses for the Journey Ahead

Week 4: The Challenges that Shape Us

Week 5: Gifts of Joy and Humor

Week 6: Gifts of Spirit

Week 7: Illuminating Grief and Loss

Week 8: Being Seen, Being Heard

Week 9: Editing and Personal Statement Session

Week 10: This Circle, This Community-A Closing

Many of the participants from 2012 rejoined us in 2013.  To accommodate both new and returning emmbers, we still began with the "Call to Adventure: and then brought forward different facets of the Hero's Journey, including an art component focusing on sacred objects:

Week 1: The Hero's Call to Adventure

Week 2: A Talisman for the Journey

Week 3: Obstacles Along the Way

Week 4: The Unexpected of Crises

Week 5: Dark Night of the Soul

Week 6: The Sacred  

Week 7: Transforming the Self

Week 8: A Time to Review and Shape Our Writing

Week 9: Rediscovering Play, Humor and Joy

This year's anthology, Out of the Darkness: A Poetic Journey for People Living with Acquired Brain Injury

To address the isolation so often encountered after ABI, the Rediscovery Project bridged participants with the community at large by capturing their written and visual works into a print anthology that exposes the rich landscape of living with ABI. To date we've compiled two anthologies, which are available through The Institute for Poetic Medicine (IPM) and Brain Injury Network of the Bay Area (BINBA). Please see the resource section of this essay. 

 

A portrait day with professional photographer Kari Orvik, MA was also organized in 2012 to commemorate and honor each participant's journey and offer yet another medium to express themes of voice and personal journey. The anthology, portraits, and the participants' personal statements were displayed at the public poetry reading, which was hosted on December 1, 2012 by BINBA and attended by 75 people.  

 

We reached out this past year and took a courageous step into the community by giving a public reading on the morning of Saturday, October 26, 2013 at a large independent bookstore, Book Passage, in Corte Madera, California.  

 

This was not only a poetry reading but a place to share with the greater community stories about living with acquired brain injury. I think we had somewhere around 70-75 people attend including the participants. The room was packed!

 

Family members, friends, BINBA staff/volunteers, brain injury survivors, and interested public, people who happened to be in the bookstore at the time etc. all brought rapt attention to the reading. Marin Supervisor Kate Sears' assistant attended on her behalf and shared how impressed she was by the program. 

 

Toby Symington, John Fox's friend from the Lloyd Symington Foundation, made it a point to introduce himself. He was greatly moved by the rawness of the participants' work. Giselle Burgos' family also commented on how touched they were by the event. Giselle's daughter approached us about how she could become more involved with BINBA as a volunteer.

 

As for the program itself, the president of the BINBA Board of Directors, Kimberly Strub, opened the event. I followed by reading John's poem about deeply listening. I offered it as a reflection for the audience...that they were giving the gift of being present for the writers. I spoke a few words about the project. Midge spoke about the research and science that speaks to the benefits of creativity on the brain. I invited Marianna Cacciatoré, Executive Director of Bread for the Journey to speak. Because of a commitment he had that could not be changed, I read a letter from John Fox of The Institute for Poetic Medicine. His letter included a moving dedication to his sister Shelley Fox who lived for 37 years with ABI. 

 

From left: Jeff Kissell looks on as his wife, Mary Ellen, shares
about his stroke; Midge Casler, MA, Rediscovery Co-facilitator; 
Krista Wissing, MFT, Rediscovery Project Founder

 

 

Each participant did an excellent job in sharing their story as part of their

introduction. I was impressed by how authentic and composed they all were.

Audience members commented that the participants' stories were powerful in their vulnerability and truth. It felt remarkable to hear this kind of vulnerability in a public space. People said the stories helped them connect with the writers' poetry more fully. 

 

Rediscovery participant Jeff Kissell's wife did an impromptu share about the day Jeff suffered his stroke and the days that followed. It was an emotional story, communicating an intensity that could be felt throughout the room. Though he now suffers from aphasia and cannot speak, Jeff stood next to his wife and supportively placed his hand on her back. In that moment, there was a profound, mutual sense of love and bearing witness between them.

 

Throughout the reading, there were tears and laughter. The audience seemed very supportive, warm and engaged. I could tell they were moved by the poetry...lots of deep "hmmms" and head nodding! 

Or

Why Art, Poetry, and Community?

Thanks to advancements in neuroscience, medical technology, and rehabilitation therapies, increasing numbers of people are surviving injuries that 30 years ago would likely have claimed their lives. This is a good thing. 

Wisdom Wands from Week 4: The Unexpected of Crises, group project

We need to make similar strides in meeting the existential and spiritual dimensions of ABI that these survivors inevitably face as they re-imagine their lives. As an expressive arts therapist, I know that poetry, art, and community are medicine for the soul. This is the heart of the Rediscovery Project. 

Imagine this. You're a seemingly healthy woman in your mid 40s. You're a mother, wife, and business owner who is independent, intelligent, athletic, creative, organized, and a host of other things. You're the family glue.  

On a day that begins like so many others, you

Totem Candles from Week 7: Transforming the Self, group project

Two months later, you emerge from the coma. Your family is elated. You will live! 

And yes, you're alive. You beat the odds, and beating the odds means stepping into a new, unfamiliar chapter of your life. Because your brain was deprived of oxygen, you've lost a significant degree of cognitive and physical functioning. You spend hours upon hours with rehabilitation therapists learning how to walk and talk again. 

Your rehabilitation continues as you return home. Working, parenting, running, dancing, cooking, organizing, problem solving, remembering, emailing-things you once took for granted are painstakingly challenging now. Sounds and light overwhelm you. Constant fatigue blankets your days, and your frustration tolerance is a shadow of what it once was. Self-consciousness arises as you struggle with your impaired gait and slurred, staccato speech.

Your family struggles to adjust to the losses and demands of this new life. Many of your friendships begin to dissolve-it's hard for them to understand the new you. You feel isolated and then depressed, which causes you to isolate even more, because this is the nature of depression.

Images

A garden in winter

a chasm that opens up in the path,

bottomless it seems,

desolation

tearing at the heart

    and tears, tear-ing

the broken heart that won't mend,

a return to the womb

helpless

just wanting to get back

to where

it's safe.

You're scared, angry, perplexed. Why did this happen to you and your family? What kind of life lies ahead? And what of your dreams? Your purpose? Your identity? Your community? Your spirit? What does this all mean?

And now imagine grappling with all of this while feeling alone and without community. Imagine journeying into your own depths without symbols, imagery, metaphor, shape, sound-the stuff of the psyche, the language of spirit.

As a healer, I've observed a potent kind of healing that occurs - when the timing's right, when a constellation of psyches and lived experience resonate, and when this all converges while gathered in circle. During this 10-week process, I was struck by how the group members showed up for the work week after week. Together, they created a place where each could land in whatever form, in whatever state. 

We always say, "Come as you are." We mean it!

Touch Stones from Week 9: Rediscovering Play, Humor, and Joy

As the weeks unfolded and trust grew, group members became increasingly vulnerable, kind and raw with one another. The kindness was the balm that made all of the vulnerability and rawness possible. These "wounded warriors," as one group member put it, gathered in circle, dug deep, claimed their voice, and bore witness.

One group member, a 24 year-old woman who suffered a traumatic brain injury during a car accident when she was four, had recently relocated with her family from the East Coast. The adjustment of leaving behind her beloved friends, her stable community, and the familiarity of her life left her feeling isolated, ungrounded, and depressed.

Through her participation in the Rediscovery Project, she was able to form relationships with other people who understand what it's like to live with ABI. She also explored her ability to overcome challenge, as well as the strength she finds in spirituality. In one of her pieces, she writes:

"I feel that I'm being seen and being heard in the circle of God with the people who understand where my heart lies... When I'm here, I feel deeply listened to, because I get to get everything off my mind and am not judged because of it."

A 56 year-old former nurse joined the Rediscovery Project after suffering an arteriovenous malformation stroke (AVM) earlier in the year. As we got to know her, it became clear she was grieving her many losses -the career she loved, her eyesight, memory, the ability to drive and function independently.

One of our volunteers, Carolyn Jones, is a grief specialist. She worked one-on-one with this participant, who was unable to write due to her vision loss. Carolyn scribed for her, but her assistance went further than this. Carolyn's presence and familiarity with the grief process enabled her to meet this group member exactly where she was in her grief.

Through the group process, the former nurse cried, laughed, expressed her grief, and connected to the things in life that keep her moving forward. In the following poems, she connects to the inspiration of her daughter and the loss of her adored mother.

To My Daughter

My lucky star

My angel.

    Mommy

To My Mother

To Cita

  My mother

I love you

  and goodnight.

Just Not Here

I feel a lot of times that

I'm just not here nor there...

I know I should be somewhere though.

A lot of times I feel

I'm in space

Where no one knows my 

My name nor race.

Being Seen, which was written towards the end of the 10-week cycle, we notice a shift. 

Being Seen

Being seen, being heard

This is difficult for me.

Find my voice,

speak the truth

and yet embrace my circle 

of new friends

and deeply listening, 

bearing witness

and most of all

finally I belong.

The writer seems to have come full circle. From feeling like "I'm in space where no one knows my name or race" to "Finally I belong" suggests a transformative journey of moving from isolation to belonging.

When read aloud in circle or to an audience at the public poetry reading, these poems jump off of the page and into the ether. These poems surf the sound waves, arising from one heart and finding their way into another heart, and then another until a field is formed between writer/reader and receiver/listener. Offering and receiving these poems in circle and in a public space becomes a sacrament.

Broken Open, Given Form

Taking part in the second year of the Hero's Journey was Ivy Sandz, a student intern in the training program of The Institute for Poetic Medicine. Ivy was instrumental in lifting up the writing occurring in the circle by both assisting people in their writing and by gathering that writing and typing up poems- literally being a fellow journeyer and a witness to the deep processes of poem-making. Ivy was witness to both the person and to the poem on the page. Each holds a strong and significant kind of respect. 

Ivy was guest writer on the Rediscovery blog:

"All too often, our culture expects us to handle our losses alone, or behind closed doors. The Rediscovery Project is a place where people have a voice and express and feel the often catastrophic losses associated with brain injury in a safe and supportive community of peers and expressive arts therapists. Many indigenous cultures understand the importance of honoring and processing grief and loss within the community. The Dagara Tribe of Burkina Faso in West Africa holds regular grief rituals. They do this as a way to help each person move and release the energies of grief in a way that is held by the group. They also know that any individual sorrow impacts the entire community, and conversely some of our deepest personal sorrows are cultural or communal challenges.

At the other side of this three-day ritual is a time for each individual to be welcomed home, because making it through grief to the other side is a rebirth, a time that calls for community witnessing of the fact that this individual has been challenged, has survived, has grieved, and has made it to the other side a changed person, a stronger person, a different person. It is time to greet them anew. It is a time for acknowledgment.  It is a time to understand their new gifts and how those gifts are important for the community as a whole."

~ from The Hero's Journey: The Dark Night

Mosaic

The white wolf wails inside my soul, 

cries in the darkness -Make me whole. 

Summon the shaman. 

Fan the flame. 

Scatter the ashes - chant my name. 

Gather the pieces, 

shard and sliver 

silent brain cells in a quiver 

Fly like an arrow through the night. 

Sparks ignited; 

second sight. 

Broken open, 

given form. 

Lose it all; be reborn. 

The Practitioner's Journey

It's this kind of work, this kind of soul-baring that humbles and transforms the practitioner. Midge sums up her experience beautifully:

Co-facilitating this group, I grew as a therapist as I pushed up against my own edges, feeling where my professional boundaries are, and facing my insecurities as I witness the participants' vulnerability.

I was humbled by the reciprocity of learning and teaching. Poetry as a healing art is not my primary modality. As an art therapist, I work predominately with image. I have learned just how powerful, healing,
and insightful just a few words can be. More so, word and image combined as a healing modality can create an amazing portal to rediscovery and one's soul.

As healers, we are in a unique position to receive wisdom that emerges from muddy waters. As creators in our own right, we are privileged to enrich and grow our lives through the teachings gifted to us through this work. As heroes in our own hero's journey, we too walk a path of rediscovery and transformation.

........ 

More About Krista Wissing & Midge Casler

Krista Wissing, MFT, is a licensed therapist who has facilitated expressive arts therapy experiences for people impacted by brain injury, Alzheimer's disease, medical illness, co-occurring disorders, and trauma. She discovered the "medicinal" value of the arts through her own path of healing. She is the Program Coordinator for Brain Injury Network of the Bay Area's day treatment program and is in private practice.  

Midge Casler, MA, is an art therapist and woodworker with over six years experience providing creative arts therapy to brain injury survivors. She is the Art Program Director at Brain Injury Network of the Bay Area where she focuses on group facilitation and supporting survivors in sharing their art through art shows and community outreach. She believes in the healing power of art and is inspired by her work and the people she works with. 

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On April 26 at the Mission Bay Conference Center, Krista and Midge will present at an upcoming event on art and poetry sponsored by the Bay Area  

Brain Injury Network and the University of California at San Francisco Department of Neurology: 

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More Resources & Writing about Acquired Brain Injury

To discover the rich and dynamic blog written by Krista Wissing, along with fine pieces written by the participants and assisted by Ivy Sandz, the Poetic Medicine intern of The Rediscovery Project, as well as Ivy's own explorations in this blog: click here

To read Know magazine's article by Krista: click here 

To order a copy of the Rediscovery Project Anthology 2012 & 2013 and to learn more about Brain Injury Network: click here

Krista found wonderful prompt poems in the work of Louise Mathewson. To view A Life Interrupted: Living with Brain Injury by Louise Mathewson:   

To learn more about Krista Wissing and/or contact her about the Rediscovery Project: click here 

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Additional Powerful Poems from The Rediscovery Project  

This poem, which was written during the "Challenges that Shape Us" class, uses the metaphor of boarding a train to capture the bittersweet process of growing through challenge.

Taking a Ride on the Train of Time

by Blake Herod

All aboard for

tomorrow and someday 

with stops at finally- 

fixation and finished.

Keep your head and hands 

inside the ride at all times.

No good deed will go unpunished.

For those of you partaking 

at compassion, you need to pay 

with a broken heart.

All sales are final.

Pictures are available 

at the end of the ride. 

This is the last train home. 

They will leave the light on for you. 

Please watch your step. 

The first step is the hardest. 

It's always in the last place. 

All aboard.

This poem, which was written during the "Gifts of Joy and Humor" class, playfully drums up the spirit of joy and clarity through sound and wordplay. The last line, "Scribe before it's too late," suggests a sense of urgency, a state of non-permanence.

Untitled 

by Kelly K.

Ate art wee

Naked free

Un-abashed glee

Joyous eye of beholder

What do you (want to) see

Impromptus forum

Ala clarity

Scribe before it's too late

This poem was written during the "Illuminating Grief and Loss" class, which invited participants to encounter the mystery of grief, loss, and rebirth through writing and group ritual. 

Untitled

by Lisa Mayock

Exhale and let go

Old images stifles today's

movement

Like the flicker of a flame

the room illuminates the

dance of life.

The rhythmic motion

finger tip to finger tip.

This poem was written during the "Being Seen, Being Heard" class where participants were offered seed words related to voice and community to inspire their writing. The imagery of Stonehenge evokes the mystery and ancient tradition of gathering in circle.

Misty Morning

by Dave Anderson

A circle, a gathering in the round

Like Stonehenge on the Glastonbury Tor

In the cool mist a community gathers

A circle of stone, each bearing witness

Each belonging, each heard, each seen

Each deeply listening

The goal knowing

Each in the circle knows the story

Each says it differently

Each owns a piece of the story

The monumental stones sit in silence

And wait for his or her chance

To tell the story

How did they get there?

Gateway by Marie Gray 

Merna Hecht 

A Humane Longing for a More Peaceful World

Merna Hecht and past participants of the Voices Project.

and the soulful expression it engenders to support young refugees and immigrants in discovering their voices and telling their stories of leaving their homelands and arriving in a new country. 

Each year the poetry created by these young people has been striking and powerful, speaking to the larger world of the deep sorrow of leave-taking and of the loss of a known way of life and of loved ones. The poetry is also rich in hope, resilience and a deeply humane longing for a more peaceful world. As in any project that is repeated over a period of years some aspects stay consistent and others change so that the foundation of the project remains strong and grounded, but there is room for the energy and renewal of change.

A Range of Collaborations Dedicated to Nurture Youth

The site of the project, as in previous years, is Foster High School in Tukwila, WA. Foster is one of the most language-diverse schools in the entire nation. Each year it has been my pleasure to work collaboratively with Foster High School ELL (English Language Learning) teacher Carrie Stradley, a gifted educator who is fully present for her students and deeply concerned that they succeed both academically and in full measure of their well-being.

We could not be more fortunate to have the continued support of both the Institute of Poetic Medicine and Jack Straw Productions who have been our collaborating partners from the beginning of the project. Working with young refugees many of whom have come of age in war zones or in the difficult conditions of refugee camps, has deepened my understanding of the ways in which stories and poems work to bring solace to people who have experienced trauma.  

The IPM support in doing this work and John's continual wisdom and perspective on many of the dynamics and intricacies that accompany bringing poetry to people who may not be considered poets in the mainstream, has been a huge part of building the strong foundation of our project. The same is true of Seattle's Jack Straw Productions who from the onset have done everything possible to bring the poems created by these young men and women to the larger community.

Both the IPM and Jack Straw Productions understand that the growing numbers of immigrants and refugees in our schools and communities demand that we help others deepen their awareness about the consequences of violent conflicts or the experiences of forced migration or immigration. 

Voice Is at the Heart of Our Project

The voices of these young poets do exactly that. Voice is at the heart of our project. Jack Straw Productions does an extraordinary job with many immigrant populations throughout King County in bringing diverse voices to radio broadcast. For our poetry project, Jack Straw sends their professional voice coaches to the classroom to work with the students in preparation for their field trip via school bus to the Jack Straw Productions recording studio located 15 miles from Foster High School in Seattle's University district.

On these field trip days, the energy and excitement among the students is at its highest point! On this special day the students suddenly

Students enjoy voice coaching provided by Jack Straw Productions

find themselves in a soundproof, state-of-the-art recording studio wearing earphones, with a voice coach devoting her attention to them as they speak into the microphone to record their poem.

The students take their turns in the sound studio, while the others take turns at the soundboard, learning the technology of computerized voice editing. The students are also given an opportunity to use the sophisticated digital equipment to edit their own recording. Through our partnership with Jack Straw Productions each student's poem is broadcast on a local Public Radio station throughout the month of April in honor of National Poetry Month. KBCS, 91.3 FM, is another longstanding community partner for the project, having worked with us for each year of our endeavor at no cost to the project but as a community service to us. Also, Jack Straw reproduces CDs with a recording of each young poet and these are included in our Poetry Anthology.

Our Book of Unity: Sparkles of Pride and Dignity

This year's anthology is titled Our Book of Unity: Hopes and Dreams of Immigrant Youth. When the project concluded we celebrated with a poetry reading followed by a reception during which the proud poets signed books for the guests and for each other. This is another high point of our project. Parents, educators and community members from many different organizations, colleagues and friends are invited to the boardroom of the Tukwila School District office where each year we have held this festive celebration. It is an important event for the students. They come up to the moment with sparkles of pride and dignity taking on the role of greeting the audience, speaking personally about the meaningful aspects of the project and introducing their fellow poets before they read. Carrie and I feel that this year's anthology which is divided into thematic sections that reflect the way we structured the writing sessions contains the best and deepest work to date from this poetry project.

Memories & Dreams

This year, we framed the project with two broad themes: Memories and Dreams. We began with memories. I recognized that the idea of placing memories in an imagined box for safe-keeping could serve as a metaphorical holding space for vivid and deeply personal memories.

When I presented the idea of memory boxes to the students, I suggested that they might also want to think of a special book in which they could write their memories or a box or a book which would hold their secrets. For most of the students this was the first poem that they had written in English. Yet, they seemed to find their voices quite quickly as they gathered their memories and placed them inside of the poems.

For example, Mercy, a refugee from Burma created a poem that held both her memories and her secrets. It seems as if she somehow anticipated the themes we would address as the project unfolded-not only of memories, but of compassion for others who suffer and of dreams for the possibility of peace. This is Mercy's first poem in full:  

Memories of the World

I will put in my box of memories

a harsh road, filled with rocks

going to church

lots of people, in one room, crowded

it felt warm, unified, and peaceful

with sounds of joy, in Yongon,

a huge red and brown church.

Sounds of the faithful,

Sounds of blessing.

I can't erase

My childhood in Yongon, Burma,

mom carried my brother

up close to her warm and kindest heart,

her comforting left hand clutched me

at a forlorn bus stop,

on a rainy day.

Our starving stomachs

made sounds of hunger,

my brother cried

and my tears fell like a water fall

and I felt something was

wounded in my heart.

I will put in my box of secrets

Grandparents of mine

I imagined how their faces looked

when mom told me their stories,

I wanted to hear their voices,

and see their smiles,

I hope that I can meet them in heaven.

If I had wings I would fly up and meet them.

I hope they are in the peace of God.

I remember

my dream for the world

sorrow and violence

turned to harmony and truce,

wounded and starving children,

who will heal and fulfill

their dreams and hopes

and all the generations and children

finding peace.

I will in my box of secrets

My mom fulfilling her dream

wanting to see a country of freedom,

before the end of her life.

My mom prayed for twelve years, like a faithful bird,

her tears spilled out as she prayed, like raindrops.

As I watched her, inside me,

I felt cold like snow and freezing

hoping her dream would come true

and she would be blessed.

The poetry from the "Memory Box" is emotionally striking with an outpouring of feelings and with images of loved ones and loved places and with stories of loss such as in these stanzas written by Bu Meh, who is Karreni from Burma:

I will put in my box of memories

A big country garden full of vegetables,

soft lettuce, white round cabbage,

huge green, long cucumbers, and round orange pumpkins.

I will put in my box of memories

The sky full of clouds and birds that could not fly,

the tears falling down my face like a river

because I cannot forget that day my father died,

the day my heart hurt the most,

like a knife

poked into my heart.

It was the saddest day,

my heart was broken.

I saw my father's face

for the last time

in my life.

I will put in my box of memories

The sound of rain, wind blowing

like when birds fly.

Open big mouths singing Christmas songs in church,

the Biglu river moving fast... Howl, howl, howl, 

a bird singing a song on a tree.

And always my father who loved me.

The idea of using the "Memory Box" form with its repetitive pattern exceeded what we had hoped for-which was to welcome the students into creating poems that came directly from their life experiences. We did not anticipate that they would become so readily adept at using the poet's craft with vivid images of tastes, colors, smells and expressions of deep feelings. For example this excerpt from Chandra's poem "Book of Memories" (he is Bhutanese and lived in a Nepalese refugee camp for his entire life before coming to the U.S.):

I will put into my book of memories

My mother cooking rice

Reminds me of the past

Taste as sweet as immortality

She is a healer of sickness

My mom taught me to cook samosa

It tastes as sweet as a bird singing

I will put in my book of memories

When my grandma told me the story

Of how my grandpa died for freedom

A soldier who helped his country Bhutan

My grandma told me he was as strong as a tree that never falls

Abdinasir's "Box of Memories" (he is Somali, born in a refugee camp in Kenya) directly referred to his dreams, in his poem he wrote, I will put in my box of memories / A reminder to encourage myself to chase my dreams. Benu also wrote of dreams in her first poem which she titled "In My Book of Dreams. Like Bu Meh who lost her father, Benu also lost a parent, her mother. This is an excerpt from her poem:

In my book of dreams:

You were born in a small

beautiful country, Bhutan

you grew up on a farm

where your family

grew rice and maize

but you had to leave

that beautiful place

because your ancestors

were from another country 

you had to leave

In my book of dreams:

I know your family

life was hard

You did not have

a house to live in,

enough food to eat or citizenship

In my book of dreams:

But you were strong

I will always love you my mom

Also remember you

in my heart.

In my life

I will never forget you.

Although we had not yet talked about "Dreams" in depth, we found it striking that so many of the young writers included their dreams for their families and loved ones, or for their countries in their first poems. Thus, our theme on dreams flowed beautifully from the Memory Boxes. We introduced this theme with a wide lens on the concept of dreams. We talked about dreams of hope and peace specific to the students' home countries extending to dreams of a more humane, just and peaceful world. We also talked with the students about their hopes for the future including their goals and dreams for education, careers and making a difference in the world. And we touched on their dreams for their families, as well as dreams and images from their past.

We also connected our theme on "Dreams" to the fact that President Obama had recently signed the "Dream Act." We explained how this legislative act by the American President would benefit the "dreamers," a word used in context of the Dream Act referring to undocumented young adult immigrants who, as a result of the Dream Act, will have first-time access to job opportunities, military service or attending college-all previously closed to them. We read quite a number of "dream poems" from Langston Hughes' well-known poem, simply titled "Dreams" to poets from widely different ethnicities and cultures. Hughes' poem touched the students with its spare and potent wisdom,

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

I was fortunate to have had the serendipity of receiving a gift sent to me from a friend who works at a refugee center in London-a small cookbook with recipes from refugee women, with a few poems included. I knew at first glance that one of the poems would embellish our theme of dreams. It was titled "My Dreams for the World," it spoke to dreams of a world with peace and harmony calling for:

Knives with forks, not knives with fear

Kisses and kindness, not fighting and hating

Poems and prayers, not poverty and pain

Health and humor, not sickness and sadness

Thanks for the day, not fear of the night.

These words inspired the students and they created lines reflecting their deep and thoughtful longings for and dreams of peace. Within our anthology there are many examples of poems which express a hope for "poems and prayers, not poverty and pain," with lines like these excerpted from a poem by Mamata, a refugee from Burma:

We need to overcome our fears

We need to gather as a family

Like a rainbow, a solidarity of colors.

We need friends, true and endearing

Not enemies.

We need bright lights, bold and brave

Not a world with too much darkness.

The poems elicited from the theme of dreams are a testament to the ways in which these young men and women write and live with a strong yearning for justice and humane treatment of all people. Carrie and I often talked about the will toward the common good and compassion for others that was present in nearly every poem. If I was to weave lines from this group of poems together into a whole piece, a stunning dream would emerge in which young people, many who have come directly from war, extreme hardship and violence are dreaming of and hoping for a better world. I think this excerpt from Des's poem speaks well for the tone I wish to describe that appeared in the "Dream" poems. Des lived in a Nepalese refugee camp until coming to America.

I am a girl living in a world full of sorrow

I wonder if I will be alive tomorrow

I hear gunshots like fireworks

I hear children crying and see their tears

Falling like a rainfall from the sky.

I see blood in the streets

That makes me afraid

Will that be me too?

I want change

I am the change

I dream big, yet I feel small.

I dream of a world that is better

A world without war

I hope we will soon fix this together

I am that power, that hope, and that future

Who wants to change the world to peace.  

During this phase of our project we were graced with a volunteer named

Abdishakur, a young man of 25 from Somalia. A college student headed toward a degree in social work and a spoken word poet, we were thrilled by his generous offer to work with our students. When he asked me what he might do to help, I told him that the students would love to hear him perform his own work and that it would be helpful if he could work one-on-one with some of the young male students while they were revising their poems.

Abdishakur's poem was spoken with an inner music and gentle tone that allowed the content of the poem to be taken in. The students were enthralled with this young man who was close to them in age and in whom they could see reflections of themselves. His poem bemoaned the power of the rich over the poor and the corrupt agendas of violent governments and it spoke with eloquence of his dreams for a more just world. Also, he intuitively chose to work with the male students who were most shy or who were struggling with their work. He gave "permission" to the young men in the project to allow themselves to shine as poets and as spokesmen for peace.

Naing, a refugee from the Chin state of Burma, wrote in his biographical statement that "he keeps his dreams deep in his heart." (The Chin people, like the Karen, have been persecuted in what is reported as one of the longest standing wars of our times, in Burma, since 1949). Naing's dream of the future is at once slightly humorous and yet contemplative and hopeful, even as he understands the future is yet an unknown for him.  

My Dream of the Future

I remember, when I was behaving well

No one remembered how I helped them

But when I was being wrong

No one forgot it...

I remember, when I lived in Burma my daddy said,

"Butterflies don't know

The color of their wings,

But human's eyes can see

How beautiful they are

Likewise, you don't know

How good you are,

Or your friends,

And your family,

But others can see

How friendly or understanding you are

inside of you."

I remember my father saying life is like a book

Some of the chapters are

About happiness like a party of Birthday...

Some of the chapters are about sadness

like when your family passed away

from you...

Some of the chapters are

About success like the day and year

you graduate from university...

But if you do not turn

The next pages, you never get

To see how beautiful life can be

And what it is on the next chapters...

Likewise, if you are on the dark side right now

Try for tomorrow you will see the sunshine...

you are almost in the light side...

Abdishakur was only able to work with our classes for several sessions, but he left a lasting impression and his presence was certainly our gift-one of many we received from various individuals and community groups. Happily we are also givers of gifts, thus participating in the best of a community exchange of strength, vision and cooperation. First and foremost the students bring their stories and their resilience to the larger community and along with that they offer their passion and intention to want to make the world a better place. They also bring their hunger for learning and their high regard for education. They take very seriously that their futures depend on succeeding in high school. For many, their dream is to attend college. Most all of them will be the first in their family to finish high school. The pride and investment that their families have in their academic success is truly without measure.

Because we recognize that academic success is of utmost importance to these young immigrants and refugees we place the money made from selling our poetry anthology into a college scholarship fund. The fund is named in honor of the late Abdi Sami, who fled Iran as a young man because he was against all forms of war. Abdi was a noted peace activist, poet and film-maker who visited our classes each year of the project before his untimely death last June.

This year we had eleven applicants submit essays in which they were required to address what the poetry project meant to them, how its meaning would endure throughout their adulthood and specifics of how they would use the scholarship funds to further their dreams for education beyond high school. We were thrilled to be able to award four scholarships to the winners of the essay contest.

We also continued our tradition of giving a donation from the anthology sales to a community organization that provides many vital services to the refugee community called the Refugee Women's Alliance. (ReWA) In this way the students understand with great pride that their poetry is helping several of their fellow students with college funds and that is it flowing into their community to an organization they know well and for which they have high regard. In many instances, a number of students and their families receive direct support from ReWA and several of our students are community volunteers for ReWA.

Generativity: Community Outreach, Community Building

The gifts that came our way from the community were equally precious. To outline the details of the largesse that shapes this project is beyond what space allows. In short, community outreach and community building has expanded each year of our project and this is an essential part of the project's story. I list below several of the gifts that were given to us:

• The cover of this year's anthology has a beautifully photographed colored portrait of each young poet-a professional photographer refused his honorarium because, as he said, "I took one look at these beautiful young citizens of the world and I fell in love with them, being with them is more payment that I could ever deserve."

• Through United Reprographics, the company who has bound and printed our anthology these past four years, Carrie Curley, the staff member who has shepherded the anthologies from the poetry project's onset, created a large, colored poster of the cover of this year's book which has a beautiful photo of each student-everyone in the project received these impressive posters; this was a surprise gift at no cost to the project.

• Two remarkable women from the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, one an immigrant rights lawyer and the other a law student who was a Foster High School graduate, gave a powerful and information-packed presentation to each class on the details of the Dream Act and on immigration laws. They also gave important information about career possibilities for working in the immigrant/refugee community in a legal or advocacy role.

• An organization called Donors Choose gifted us with blank journals and art supplies for each student and a set of poetry books for the classroom.

• Our outreach goes in many directions and increasingly encompasses more individuals and organizations. Our broadest outreach will take place this summer when we send this year's anthology to Rigoberta Menchu, thanking her for the inspiration the students gleaned from her poem and from her story (see below). At John's excellent suggestion, Carrie and I will also send the anthology to Aung San Suu Kyi, of Burma, who is a noted human rights activist and also the winner of a Nobel Peace prize. We will highlight the poetry written by our students who are refugees from Burma (Myanmar) when we send her our gift.

• We have recently received a notice from Arun Toke, the editor of Skipping Stones magazine, in praise of the anthology which we sent to him. He intends to publish a number of poems from our anthology and he will also include information about the Stories of Arrival Project in this widely circulated international magazine. Skipping Stones is an award-winning, multicultural magazine for young people whose mission is to: "encourage cooperation, creativity, and celebration of cultural and linguistic diversity; to explore stewardship of the ecological and social webs that nurture us; and to offer a forum for communication among children from different lands and backgrounds." To learn more:
  click here

The Homeland of Their Hearts

Because this year's group of students created poems that spoke so deeply about their experiences, and the spirit and energy for poetry was at a high point, we decided to extend the project beyond our pre-planned timeline. Instead of ending on our final projected date, we kept going, adding in an additional theme and several poetry writing sessions.

I wanted to pay homage to the work the students had already completed, but at the same time I wanted to invite them to journey deeper into the ways that poetry can intertwine our most personal experiences such as anguish and joy, hope and heartache, with distinct details, and yet speak in a profoundly universal manner to others. I also wanted to directly address the shared universals specific to the students' lives in exile-having to leave a loved place and cross a border-and its opposite-home-the universal longing for a safe place of belonging. 

My thoughts turned to Guatemalan poet and Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu, her years of suffering and exile and her courageous fight against a brutal regime in Guatemala. I adapted one of her poems about exile because I sensed it would have a deep resonance for each student. With Menchu's poem, "The Homeland of My Heart" as their guide, the students created poems that addressed their own border crossings. Her poem as I adapted it reads in part,

I crossed the border my love,

I do not know when I will return.

Maybe in summer

when grandmother moon and father sun

greet one another again

in the early morning,

and when the rains come,

maybe the pumpkins Victor planted

that afternoon the soldiers came for him

will grow again...

I crossed the border with dignity

I carried a sack loaded with many things

I carried the ancient memories of my motherland,

the leather sandals that took me through my village,

the smell of spring in the mountains,

and the blessed stories from my childhood.

I carried my brightly woven garment, my huipil,

I carried the bones of my ancestors

from the place I left behind.

-adapted from a translation by Martin Espada & Camilo Pe'rez-Bustillo

The Menchu poem opened something very deep in each poet as they wrote of their homelands and their hearts. Solomon's poem is an example of the poetry that was created in our extended writing sessions. He is from Ethiopia, where he witnessed the tremendous suffering caused by hunger and poverty before his journey to the U.S.

Homeland of My Heart  

I crossed the border

With huge hope

And carrying a big sack

Containing different dreams in it.

I crossed the border

To share my community's history

When I was in Ethiopia,

I saw many people on the street sleeping

Like a bunch of ants in mud,

under the trees,

homeless, hungry people,

Starving, without clothes to wear

When I see them my heart is broken

People exposed to poverty,

Instability and drought,

Many die every year.

It is disheartening

To me and to the world

Yet people could do something

But they do nothing.

Solomon was also one of the scholarship applicants and recipients. His thoughts echo the comments that were made in most every student's reflective essay about the commonality and camaraderie that came from listening to each other's poetry. Solomon is a young man of much wisdom, in his essay he wrote not of himself but of others,

"Due to different factors and events like civil war, racism, poverty, flooding and other natural and man-made problems, immigrants and refugees are forced to cross their country's border crying tears in their face like drizzle...That is why I said I crossed the border with huge hope carrying a big sack that contains different dreams in it. Across the world there are people like us who have dreams and hopes. But their ideals get cut down and they can be kidnapped as children and forced to service in the military, some of them choose suicide, some of them disappear from the land when their big and attractive environment is set on fire and changed to ash by some inhumanity, by people who are dictators and their groups. That is why Kaw from Burma said, in his poem, "His village is damaged by fire, guns and changed to ash." That is so disgusting, the killing in and of the world... We poets don't want these problems to happen again...We are inspired to change the world."

And Elizabeth, a Burmese refugee, offered similar comments in her reflections written after creating her poem about the homeland of her heart. She was also a scholarship recipient:

Solomon, Elizabeth, and their classmates show us that poetry can be in service to the possibility for a more humane world. They remind us that the need to create space for hearing each other's stories has never been greater, because if we do not learn to exchange our stories of survival and hope across our borders, we might always remain strangers, and in this there will be no peace.

We Are Refugees: A Vision of a Better World

Most of all, in writing about this year's Stories of Arrival: Youth Voices Project, I have hoped to honor the spirit and strengths of these young poets. They have met the challenges of what it takes to build a community when those within it are different-ethnically, culturally, and religiously. They hold to a vision of a better world and when given the chance to express that vision and to honor who they are and where and who they come from, they have done so with honesty, rigor and great sincerity of heart. In so many ways they have been a teacher to me as I watched them create their poetry in a new language, translating it from the deeper languages of their hearts. They come to poetry with courage and dignity, having survived enormously difficult circumstances. 

Hungry stomachs, bare feet.

We have no national identity.

We are refugees.

Unsettled from both Nepalese

And Bhutanese governments

And god also

We cannot follow Bhutan religion

In the Nepal, we cannot become a Nepalese citizen

We are refugees

Leaving our lovely houses in Bhutan,

Without being noticed in the evening,

Sneaking away in

The dawn or starless night

Running away from our beautiful places

With bare feet,

And without food in our stomachs,

We are refugees.

Our roof is under the blue sky,

And uncovered earth gives us a loving bed,

For all of us Young, old, adult,

We are refugees.

With no signals of human rights

With no place to report our claims

Yet we are human rights,

We are refugees.

And Francis, a refugee from Burma, would be equally honored to conclude with his poem, "Homeland of My Mother," because it too speaks for the many, with its beautiful, benevolent dream of returning home:

Homeland of My Mother

Great mom, come near me. The time

is passed over in the west. Mom let's think back.

Do you ever think you'll have that flying

dream again? The land of my grandmother,

the place that you sleep and work

the great land made by God.

The big trees are green, the beautiful grasses are

growing new. The lonely house waiting.

The sunshine like a car light to our land.

I miss my laughing village, the sound of animals.

Mom when will I be in my homeland again?

I want to see my place where

I was born. I can only tell my story,

The sound of grandmother's voice

telling a story. Mom, someday the

click hereflying dream will come true

to take me there.

"Tuunu zogam mubang hong ngai ingh."

For additional information about the project and to hear the poems of   

The Bread for the Journey chapter in Seattle was a wonderful supporter for Youth Voices. Merna, along with Meg Erskine, was interviewed by Marianna Cacciatoré of Bread for the Journey Radio. To listen to the interview, 

click here 

Mindfulness and the Arts Therapies:

Theory and Practice

Edited by Laury Rappaport, PhD

with a Foreword by Jakusho Kwong-Roshi

Published by Jessica Kingsley, London, England

Through the practice of mindfulness, a poetry therapist holds in balance both unimpeded process and the development of awareness and insight. That sense of balance helps to weave a sacred and safe container with threads of reflection, discernment and loving consideration.

To learn more about the work of Laury Rappaport, PhD, click here. 

.....

Testimonial for Mindfulness and Creative Arts Therapies:

Letting the Beauty We Love Be What We Do:

Stories of Living Divided No More

Facilitated and Edited by Sally Z. Hare and Megan Leboutillier

 with an Embellishment by Parker J. Palmer

A chapter by John Fox is included

  

This book offers the stories of 21 remarkably diverse individuals who share the desire to live into their birthright wholeness. We call ourselves a Writers Circle of Trust comprised of individuals who made the decision to live divided no more. These Writers all attended retreats, not necessarily the same one or in the same location or even in the same year. The retreats may have been The Courage to Teach® or The Courage to Lead® or Circle of Trust®. Those are all names for registered programs of the Center for Courage & Renewal's in-person retreats and programs that nurture personal and professional integrity and the courage to act on it. The retreats are grounded in the writing and philosophy of Parker J. Palmer, and he explains that in detail in his book, A Hidden Wholeness.  

 

John Fox is one of those Writers, who has facilitated retreats over the past several years with Sally Z. Hare, in which they brought together John's work in Poetic Medicine with Sally's work with Circles of Trust. Others in this Writers Circle of Trust have been invited to share their stories, to go public with their decision to live an undivided life, to name and embrace their ongoing journey, with its shadows and light, starts and stops, bridges and potholes.  

 

We encouraged our Writers to be intentional in casting off the deformation of what too many of us learned in school about writing: the so-called objectivity that says we can't use the words I and we and can't claim our own voices; the academic language and footnotes that too often detract from the meaning; even the rules of grammar that say all sentences must have a subject and a verb!

 

~ Sally Z. Hare and Megan Boutillier

 

The following are authors and titles of eight essays from the rich collection of 21 to be found in the book:

 

Sally Z. Hare: 

I'll Meet You in the Field: The Intersection of Education and Community                                                                                            

Jean Richardson:

Swimming with Courage: Re-Claiming My Underground River    

 

Debbie Stanley:
Sustaining the Beauty of Teaching and Learning in the Tragic Gap
of Education

 

John Fox, CPT:
Poetry's Call: An Exploration of the Words Let and Letting

 

Carolyn Ellis:  

You've Gotta Do Your Homework

     

Kay Stewart:

Reaching In to Reach Out to Others

 

Morgan Lee:
Offering All We Have

 

Sandra Jean Sturdivant Merriam:
Doing Simple Work Well: The Beauty I Love    

   

Letting the Beauty We Love Be What We Do will be available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble on May 1, 2014.

 .....

 

Testimonial for Letting the Beauty We Love Be What We Do

 

"From the moment I began writing fifty years ago, I've known that my ideas wouldn't matter much if they simply sat there, inert, on the printed page. So I am deeply grateful for people who 'put wheels' on those ideas-people who find ways to take their inner work into the outer world and show up on the job and in other parts of their lives with their identity and integrity intact. The contributors to this book have done exactly that. Here they share their stories of what it means to decide to 'rejoin soul and role' and live 'divided no more.'"

 ~ Parker J. Palmer 

Writing and Healing

A Mindful Guide for Cancer Survivors

By Pamela Post-Ferrante

  with a Foreword by Gabrielle Rico, Writing the Natural Way

Resources

To learn more about the lives of those with Acquired Brain Injury and how writing-to-heal can help through the works of Louise Mathewson and Barbara Stahura, refer to the below links. 

To view the works of Louise Mathewson: 

click here and here

To view the works of Barbara Stahura:

click here 

To learn more about the Arts-in-Medicine work of child psychiatrist Dr. Diane Kaufman: click here. To purchase her recent book

.......

A Radio Interview with John Fox

This autumn, Robin Lysne interviewed John Fox on her radio blog program Evolve! which is featured on Firefly Willows L*I*V*E. The interview is wide- ranging! It includes stories of John's work, his life, stories of IPM's poetry partners. It discusses the processes and practice of poetry as healer. John makes a distinction between a critique-based approach to writing and how taking a healing approach is to let poem-making evolve naturally so that more authenticity, meaning, community and healing can happen. There are many poems read to enjoy.

Click here to listen to interview. 

Robin Lysne is a fine poet and energy healer. Her work is dedicated to connecting the radiant energy of the heart with levels of higher consciousness and ways to ground that with our life here on earth. 

A Snapshot Preview of IPM's New Website

What an honor and privilege it is to work with John in re-creating the website for IPM. My passion is to co-create with people who are making a positive difference in the world through my love of web design. The work that IPM does is amazing so when the IPM Board accepted my proposal of a new site for IPM, it was a dream come true. 

We are about one-third complete and I look forward to the day when the site will be uploaded for all of you to experience. 

~ Billie Sommerfeld

  Unique Web Design

  www.uniquewebdesignandprinting.com

In Memory of the Future

in honor of the children, adults,

parents and families of

Sandy Hook Elementary School

December 14, 2012