Poetry Medicine

Sometimes a poem reaches us before we fully understand why.

A line stays with us. An image follows us through the day. Words written by someone we have never met seem to recognise something within us that we have not yet been able to name.

Poetry can reach beneath explanation and touch the body, heart and imagination. It can offer companionship, awaken memory, open a question or give language to an experience that has remained quietly beyond words.

This is the ground of Poetry Medicine.

When a Poem Becomes a Companion

We are often taught to approach poetry intellectually: to interpret it, identify its themes or work out what the poet intended.

Poetry Medicine invites a different relationship.

Rather than asking only, “What does this poem mean?”, we might ask:

• What happens within me as I hear it?

• Which word or image draws my attention?

• Where do I feel the poem in my body?

• What memory, question or longing does it awaken?

• What might the poem be asking me to notice?

There is no single correct interpretation. The poem becomes a companion or teacher—something we can return to and listen with over time.

What Is Poetry Medicine?

I studied Poetry Medicine with Kim Rosen, author of Saved by a Poem, and through the Poetry Mystery School.

In a Poetry Medicine session, we work closely with a poem as a doorway into listening and self-enquiry.

You may bring a poem that already matters to you, or we can discover one together. Sometimes a particular poem seems to arrive at precisely the right moment. At other times, we begin without knowing what we need and allow the poem to meet us there.

The intention is not to analyse the poem or use it to diagnose or explain your experience. We listen for how its language, rhythm, images and silences resonate within you.

What Happens During a Session?

We begin with conversation and take time to notice what is present.

The poem may then be read aloud, perhaps more than once, allowing you to receive it without needing to understand or remember everything. Hearing a poem spoken can be very different from reading it silently. Rhythm, breath, tone and pauses become part of the experience.

You may be invited to notice a word, line or image that catches your attention. From there, the exploration might include:

• Conversation and reflection

• Listening to the poem again

• Spontaneous writing

• Speaking a line aloud

• Gentle voice or sound

• Breath awareness or movement

• Silence and time to simply receive

There is no fixed sequence. The session is shaped around you and what feels supportive.

You do not have to share anything you would prefer to keep private. You can decline an invitation, pause or remain with silence. Choice, consent and pace matter throughout.

What Might Draw Someone to Poetry Medicine?

You may feel drawn to this work because:

• A poem has stayed with you and you want to explore why

• You are moving through a time of change, grief or uncertainty

• Something feels difficult to express in ordinary language

• You want to reconnect with creativity or imagination

• You are curious about poetry as an embodied and contemplative practice

• You would like to listen more deeply to a question or longing

• You feel moved by poetry but do not know how to enter it more fully

You do not need to be a poet or writer. You do not even need to think of yourself as someone who understands poetry.

Curiosity is enough.

Poetry Medicine and Poetry Dives

Poetry Medicine and a Poetry Dive are related, but they are not the same.

A Poetry Dive is generally a group experience weaving together several poems, music, movement and spontaneous writing to create an immersive journey.

Poetry Medicine is usually explored one-to-one. It allows more time to listen closely to a particular poem and to how it speaks into your own life and experience.

Both approaches invite us to receive poetry through the body and heart rather than engaging with it only through the rational mind.

Words from a Participant

“Poetry Medicine has opened a new world of poetry… a place to go when thoughts and feelings need to be rearranged.”
—Martin O’Connor

Poetry Medicine Within The Listening Field

Poetry Medicine may stand at the centre of a one-to-one session or arise naturally alongside voice, Sound Healing, breath awareness, gentle movement and silence.

You do not need to decide upon a particular approach in advance. We can begin with what is drawing you towards the work and allow the session to unfold from there.

If you are curious about exploring a poem in this way, you can read more about One-to-One Sessions or Approaches Within The Listening Field.

Sometimes the poem finds us first.

Our practice is to listen.