How did you become involved with The Good Listening Project?
When I was a child, I had several experiences that introduced me to first responders, surgeons, and hospice nurses. As it became clearer that these experiences would turn me into a poet rather than a medical professional, I began looking for ways to reconnect with medicine and healing through writing poetry. It’s now been a year since I serendipitously heard about Frankie’s endeavor with The Good Listening Project.
About how many poems have you written for people?
Almost 200! This has been a huge change for me, as I’d been used to workshopping poems with peers and teachers, then rewriting a single poem for weeks/months/years before it was “ready.” Adjusting to the new practice has been challenging and thrilling!
What’s your writing process like?
What I love most about this work is that I never know what people will want to talk about, what stories I’ll end up hearing that day. I’ve learned that I don’t need to ask many questions—usually the only things I’ll say are: “What would you like a poem about?” and “Could you tell me more about that?” And then I listen for the words, phrases, and expressions that are unique to their story. I love using direct quotes in the poems, so I keep a stack of loose-leaf paper with me and take notes during the conversation on the top sheet. After we finish talking, I review my notes and start rewriting the most compelling quotes on another sheet of paper. I usually write between 3-5 drafts by hand before typing the final draft, and I like to be able to spread them out and see all the pages at once—it’s like a map of how the poem has transformed over time.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever heard?
Once when I was listening at Grand Oaks Assisted Living through Sibley Memorial Hospital, I asked someone who her favorite writer was and she said, “I am! I love reading my own writing from different periods in my life and rediscovering who I was then.” She advised: “Write about everything that’s important to you, and do it often. Write about your friends and your feelings and what you love and what you don’t. What you’re doing now—writing for other people—it’s great practice, but make sure you’re spending time writing just for yourself too. You’ll want to remember who you were then.” I was reminded of her advice recently when I found one of my journals from elementary school. In it I had written: “I was thinking I want to be a poet when I grow up...”
What’s your favorite poem that someone else has written?
I really love the poem Elle wrote for the knitting circle at Smith Center for Healing and the Arts that we posted on March 31st. I love the shape of the typed poem on the page, the subtle rhymes, and the elegance in its simplicity.
What’s your favorite poem that you’ve written?
“Why I Take My Time” turned out to be an accidental sonnet that I wrote for a nurse at Sibley Memorial Hospital after chatting with her very briefly. We were able to talk again for much longer at the end of that week and I wrote a second poem for her, but when I wrote this first one I didn’t know if we’d get another chance to talk and I wanted her to know how important her words were to me.
What makes you laugh out loud?
Reading horoscopes and my cat’s face when he’s trying to climb a tree!
