“When the Dying Has Begun”: Death, Grief, and Poetry, by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg and John Willison

Death is at the table with us when we write together at Turning Point: The Center for Hope and Healing, where I’ve been facilitating workshops for people with serious illness since 2003. The workshop participants have been through a dizzying amount of surgeries or strokes or heart attacks or chemotherapy treatments. They don’t flinch at Read More …

Coping Through Connections: Faith, Rationality, and Poetry, by Roy J. Beckemeyer

Rosarium Threnody  “Tell the beads of the chromosomes like a rosary, Father.” – Kathryn Kysar from her poem, “Coyote Addresses Science” We tell the string of chromosomes like a rosary, follow, finger by finger, the coiled helix home, count mitochondria for the Mother of God. We bear each mutation to the cross as if we Read More …

The Mourning After: A Poem about Date Rape, by Melissa Rose and Michael Ting

Poem by Melissa Rose and Michael Ting Reflection by Melissa Rose Female Voice Male Voice Female and Male Together I don’t remember how I got home last night I woke up hungover Last night was a blur Drank too much Head still pounding I take a shower Removing The smell of her sweet perfume Washing Read More …

From “Wishing for Repose and the Beauty of Things,” by Matthew Gray and Timothy Johnson

Poems by Matthew Gray and Timothy Johnson Reflection by Timothy Johnson Freedom of the Hills When did I exchange without thought, my mountains for civilization extensive childhood memories when I pondered alpine landscapes filled soulful desires unmet dreams haunt the waking reaching peaks now burned A Foggy Day on the North Shore It is difficult Read More …

Writing Grief: A Writing Workshop within a Hospice Bereavement Program, by Vicki C. Mayk

Hospice House of St. Luke’s Hospice in Bethlehem, Pa., sits tucked away at the bend of a road. A floor-to-ceiling mosaic greets visitors in its welcoming entryway. To the right, a kitchen stocked with snacks and comfort food is ready for family members who need a break from their bedside vigils. A library with cozy Read More …

Let the River Take Me: Learnings from Facilitating an At-risk Group, by Joanna Tebbs Young

Let the River Take Me A compilation poem Let the river take me — Even when it hurts, it breathes with the joy of laughter, undulating. I choke on life, I’m really here in the world. I keep trying. I am a survivor. Manipulate the truth; truth to be heard. The road to hell is Read More …

A Conversation on Right Livelihood and Transformative Language Arts, by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg and Laura Packer

What does Right Livelihood mean in the context of TLA? How does it relate to finding and staying in conversation with our life’s work while keeping the cupboards and gas tank full as well as caring for our health, art, soul, and community? Laura Packer and Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, between them, have decades of experience. Laura Read More …