We start Poetry Heals workshops with group poems and poetry games. A favorite game is called “exquisite corpse,” where we start with a first line only. The first person adds one line and folds over the paper so only their line shows. The first person then passes the poem to the second person. And the process continues, a bit like the old game called “telephone.” No one sees more than one line of the poem as they add a line. The results are usually absurd, but they are often lovely. Here are the results from a group of homeless folks at the Penrose Library on Tuesday morning.
Poem #1
The snow fell hard for the third day in a row.
I tried to settle into the quiet
Through the chaos and the riot
I have a good diet
I miss fishing in the rain
I miss kissing in the rain
As thoughts of Eden coursing through my veins.
Poem #2
The gray squirrel darted over the rocky embankment.
As the homeless man awakes on the pavement
I don’t know
And sometimes I do know
What other have forgotten
I struggle to preserve with dreams
That came to me in the early hours
Dreams for the future.
Wonders in the winter, Tuesday morning Poetry Heals workshops for homeless will continue through March, with support from the Pikes Peak Library District. I can’t wait to see who comes and what they write.
