Poetry Prescription

Photograph Winning Words www.winningwordspoetry.com

Every Friday to kick start your weekend we’ll post a poem on one or all three of the blogs.

There’s a poem for every ailment. We can write our own poems to distill our experiences or feelings or we can use the medicine and wisdom from other people’s poems to understand ourselves, and our worlds better. In the poetry world this technique is known as a poetry prescription.  When I read other people’s poems they help me to better articulate and feel my emotions. I find myself in a relationship with the poet and a realization that I am not alone with what I experience on a day-to-day basis.  Have you noticed how some poets find just the right words to describe particular events and life experiences from the large to the small?

More and more I’m noticing how poems stop me in my track. Causing me to pause and allow the words to sink in a more conscious and mindful manner. I like that about poetry. Reading poetry and engaging with a poem is an act of mindfulness, which brings health and emotional benefits to the reader.

Phyllis Klein and Perie Longo writing in an article, The Therapeutic Benefits of Poetry (2006) describes how a poem makes us feel safe because, “a poem has a border, a frame, or structure, as opposed to prose, the form itself is a safety net. Strong emotions will not run off the page.”

Lately I’ve been more courageous in writing poems of my own. When I do I am surprised by how accurately the poem both captures and mirrors my emotions and raw feelings.

Here at www.jackeeholder.com we’re experimenting with Poetic Inquiry. At the end of each poem you‘ll find a list of prompts should you wish to delve more deeply into the poem and explore its meaning and how the poem relates to you. When poetry therapists work with groups and individuals they’ll ask the group which lines resonate with them or what themes they’re drawn to. We hope the prompts offer you some of that exploration if you wish to reflect further. We’d love to know which poems speak to you or even post one of your poems as one of our Friday Poetry Prescription blogs.