Poetry as a Healing Art
I can't say for sure if it works or not: writing poetry as a way to improve the condition of one's body or one's psyche. But I do know that I sure wrote a lot of poems in the months after my wife died (which was five years ago as of this coming January). It was a very very hard time for me--emotionally, and in terms of new illness. Writing poems seemed then a very natural form of necessary expression.
And Barbara herself wrote some poems to keep up her spirits. This is a short one of hers:
NEW MOON
No moon to light my way!
Only the orange fire
Of my own courageSometimes bright
Sometimes dim
Never out.by BAB (2002)
Anyhow, here is an article from the Baltimore Sun about a workshop that does use poetry as a healing art. Also, there is a National Association for Poetry Therapy (NAPT).
It does seem like a good idea to me.
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