Art & Poetry: Or, the poetess princess!

Poetry

What is the first thought you have when you hear the word poetry?  What do you think about poetry? Do you read it, write it, enjoy it? 

What does it do?

Some people think poetry is so "last century", while others deeply appreciate it. My perspective is that Poetry is a gift and a wonderful means to connect our awareness to deep and powerful emotional experiences.  Sometimes a poem allows you to really feel the depth of your feelings in a way that help you make sense of them. Not an intellectual sense, but true knowing and understanding of what is going on inside of you at that moment.

Word Pictures

Poetry uses metaphor and word pictures to help the reader really understand what the poet is conveying. I am a therapist and I work with many clients who have survived unspeakable horrors. I hear stories at times that make me want to burst with sorrow, rage and confusion. I can't believe how people can be so damaging to members of their own families. I have some of my own hard early memories so I have great empathy and compassion. Sometimes the only way I can let go of huge emotions that I feel after hearing horror stories, especially from teenagers, is to write it down. I use poetry to connect internally to my deep feelings and then release them onto the paper using words as containers for the affect.

Poem Anyone?

I will share a few poems here to demonstrate ways to connect to unpleasant and intense emotions. The first is more playful, but the second is full or rage and despair for my young clients that suffer from their own parents. Writing these words down helped me have hope for healing and to keep working with these children without falling into a deep dark depression.

Do try this at home!

I encourage you to give poetry a try. It only has to make sense to you. The words are for you after all, and not for anyone else. Let me know how it goes. Thank you for listening.