Poetry is a bridge between two people
I came across this quote by Ocean Vuong on a tote bag – the modern version of the flyer - it originates from a 2017 Poetry Society interview, celebrating Vuong’s Night sky with exit wounds. It’s a phrase that has stuck with me, a phrase I return to when I consider my reason for writing and reading. What exactly is it that makes poetry such a valuable tool for connection with others and ourselves? Why does it work? Does it work at all
Image of a pool and trees taken on a chilly December afternoon at Attingham Park in Shropshire
Why poetry connects people
The thing about poetry is it’s brevity. A line can sit with you, a few words that chime can become a companion in hard times. Or happy times, or sort of middling times. Writing in the Guardian, Carole Ann Duffy describes poetry as
“a kind of time capsule – it allows feelings and ideas to travel big distances in a very condensed form."
This brevity can also be poetry’s undoing. The concept of poetry as a riddle, as something to be “got” or as a puzzle is a barrier for many. This is changing – Instagram has lead to a wave of people using language to express, poetry is becoming currency for marketing bods and is edging its way to be part of everyday culture. As with any new media, controversy about the validity of Instapoetry abounds – people have strong views about what is or is not poetry. Accessibility means just that – the barriers are down and poetry can be a way for people to express what they want in a way that moves them, rather than a way that fits an impenetrable, almost secret criteria. Arguing against the prevalence of social media poetry like arguing that folk songs are of less value than an intricate aria – both represent a valuable expression of emotion and both have a role to play in navigating the challenge of just being alive.
Poetry marries emotion and intellect
Poetry is not something that happens to a reader. it’s an interactive process that marries emotion and intellect. A way of forming understanding. A study by UC Berkeley found that the human voice can convey no less than 24 sounds from disgust to awe and everything in between. Listen to their sound graph to discover the pathway taken by these emotions and the miniscule variance of intonation needed to express different feelings.
As the study states “In contrast to discrete emotion theories, the emotion categories conveyed by vocal bursts are bridged by smooth gradients with continuously varying meaning.”(Dacher et al., 2018). Sound transcends language, and our collective understanding can be seen across cultures.
Sound takes care of the instinctive aspect of emotion, something that poets yearn to capture. When we succeed we create something that truly resonates – that poem that is read, and perhaps not entirely understood but still hits “something” – that’s our ancient understanding of sound at work.
“By reading the words of a poet who expresses heartfelt emotions, patients experience changes in their emotions that allow them to look back at the past and to portray and heal themselves” (Mazza, 2006 in The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine)
What a statement. What a thing to be able to achieve as a reader and as a writer. To be able to heal oneself through words – seems impossible. This is where the second aspect of poetry comes in – by honing the words, choosing exactly the right one our intellect can be stretched, challenged, delighted. Add in the linguistic acrobatics created by writing and reading formal poetry and our understanding, our sense of being understood, crystallizes in an “aha” moment. That understanding and being understood can come from an exquisitely complex pantoum, or a rollicking rhyming piece. Which is what makes poetry such a wild and joyful pastime to indulge in.
Poems and emotion in practice
My own experience of poetry as healer began when a small square paperback poetry book, with a sugar heart on the cover (don’t judge too harshly - it was the late 90’s) and a simple title “101 poems that could save your life” beckoned to me from the shelves of WHSmith. On the back this short poem made me laugh. And cry a little. The ridiculousness pairs with the innate sadness of an adult eating alphabet soup alone – such a range of emotions from so few words.
eating alone
my alphabet soup
speaks to me
Brenda S. Duster
Despite the appealing cover, there is nothing sugary or lightweight about the content, Weighty poems are placed side by side with pithy observational pieces. It’s a book designed to delight and arrest in equal measure. An anthology of emotional first aid, no less. As a writer poetry is a way to release the wolf howl, to pour out all the things I cannot say. Is it different to a journal? I think so. Coming back to the idea that poetry works on both impulsive and intellectual emotion I realise that when redrafting and refining my work, I’m also redrafting me response to a situation. This doesn’t mean the emotion is diluted or devalued, more that it is clarified and elevated to a thing of value and substance.
This concept is brought to life beautifully at the Poetry Pharmacy. From personal consultations to carefully curated prescriptions, this is a space where poetry is demystified, but not disempowered. Poetry on prescription is brought to life by joy and absolute belief in the ability of language to help soothe and heal, lubricated by excellent coffee and cake.
Poetry and wellbeing are companions and the idea of poetry on prescription is supported by GPs and other NHS professionals. as part of my research for this article I came across The Reading Well . This is a superb resource, packed with links to all kinds of books for all kinds of life stages and mental health challenges. It’s wonderful resource – yet I’d not heard of until I began writing this article and a quick social media poll proved I was not alone in my ignorance.
The power of poetry to improve lives is untapped, barriers and a sense of otherness mean that many people regard poetry as irrelevant, superficial and the preserve of the academics. The confusion is that most poets I have met over the years are as far from the stereotype as could be imagined. People write their gritty, gruesome stories to help to heal others. Yet the image persists. Why do you think that is? What can we do about it? How can poetry be presented to heal the wounds of the masses?
References
Cowen, Alan & Elfenbein, Hillary & Laukka, Petri & Keltner, Dacher. (2018). Mapping 24 Emotions Conveyed by Brief Human Vocalization. American Psychologist. 10.1037/amp0000399.