How did you become involved with The Good Listening Project?
Through my poetry-inspired friendship with Frankie Abralind, I became an intern in his department at Sibley Memorial Hospital. I worked with Frankie to pilot the program in the hospital setting for about six weeks. Together, we realized how valuable the listening element of the conversation was for people. When Frankie founded the organization, I was the first official Listener Poet!
About how many poems have you written for people?
I have written about 150 poems for people through The Good Listening Project!
What’s your writing process like?
I sort of cast around in my mind for a central theme from the conversation and build from that. Often, a certain quote from the poemee will strike me as the crux of what they shared with me, and I will develop imagery using the quote as a starting point. I use metaphor frequently, so that the poems I write often make sense only to those for whom they were written.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever heard?
I’m not sure that I have a specific answer to this! I suppose the most meaningful advice I have heard is to think about what other people are going through when you interact with them. The costs of being kind and considerate are usually much smaller than the benefits. I feel very fulfilled by promoting the wellbeing of others.
What’s your favorite poem that you’ve written?
Well, there are two elements to the poems I have written through The Good Listening Project. The first is the content of the poem itself, at face value; the second is how well I feel I was able to capture the essence of the conversation it is based on. If I had to choose, I think my favourite poem would be one for which I love both of these elements. One that comes to mind is “When A Tiger Fights,” because I feel like I really captured what was shared with me in a way that made sense emotionally to the poemee.
What makes you laugh out loud?
My parents find each other so funny that when one of them does something silly and the other starts laughing, I lose it as well. It hardly matters what the silly thing was!
