Listening

Part of our CPE experience included a day of learning about poetry as medicine. We took an entire day to read poetry together, as well as write poetry.  I'm an avid poetry person, but I was a bit daunted by a day of this.  It turned out to be quite an experience of growth and healing, not just for me, but for my peers.  It was a delight to hear how we all took a theme, such as listening, and created a variety of works of words.  We were given a certain amount of time (about 15 minutes for this one!) and a theme, and then shared our poems together after. I've been meaning to share some of my poems here, and finally have gotten around to it!  So, here's one poem I wrote in regards to listening, specifically when I'm going into a patient's room. If you'd like to learn more about poetic medicine, here's a website that talks about it. 

Ears?

Check.

Open? Attentive?

Perked up like Rover’s in anticipation

to the door creaking open,

hearing more than the door

and knowing what is heard?

Double check.

Eyes?

Check.

Alert?  Bright?

Taking in all things

with a sense of wonder and mystery?

Looking past objects

and into the deep unknown

like baby’s first encounter with the

musical mobile hanging above the bed?

Double check.

Mouth?

Check.

Slightly open, not pursed?

Ready to respond reassuringly?

To make affirming,

appropriate sounds of empathy?

As your grandma used to do when

you shared your day’s adventures

at bath time?

Double check.

Shoulders?

Check.

Loose and low?

Relaxed and resolved?

Avoiding the desire to look like

the high school offensive lineman

as he haunches up to defend the ball

no matter what,

protecting all he encompasses?

Double check.

Hands?

Check.

Calm? No twitching?

Ready to respond

with the slightest of touches

that carry more weight

than you’ll ever know?

Double check.

Heart?

Heart?

You there…?

Oh – good. Check.

Ready for what could be a doozy?

Ready to be made vulnerable

like the limbs of a tree that feel

both beauty in the seasons and

loss in the changing of them?

Ready to be worn on the sleeve

and exposed to the elements?

Double check.

Good.

All systems go –

Ready to engage.

Who knows what you'll encounter?

A beloved land that seemed distant could soon be home within you.