Poetry Theme and Color Wheels helped my students gain the confidence to express difficult emotions. I also found that just looking at the art image was a
powerful catalyst for jump-starting the creative process for poem writing.
- JoAnn Flynn
poetry therapy
Poetry Therapy is a healing art form that invites us to express the true self, creating awareness, insight and healing. Engaging in Poetry Therapy often breaks a silence and allows us to voice the truth. Poetry writing prompts assist us in discovering the poet within. We also explore methods for accessing the power of metaphor in the healing process.
Often, I offer clients a poem that will be an evocative opening allowing them to explore their presenting issue. As we engage in the creative process we use exploratory tools to amplify the connections being made.
My Color Wheels, Themes Wheels and Creative Kits are available HERE.
Often, I offer clients a poem that will be an evocative opening allowing them to explore their presenting issue. As we engage in the creative process we use exploratory tools to amplify the connections being made.
My Color Wheels, Themes Wheels and Creative Kits are available HERE.
Poems by JoAnn Flynn:
The Painting
Childhood strokes
of primitive palettes
a nautical theme
I’d guess.
Secrets stored beneath
impermeable glass
unlocked, spilling out
layers of lifetimes.
Fragments ponderable
within the incessant
ocean.
Pieces unasked
rearrange forming
new meaning--
a puzzle
with endless possibilities.
- JoAnn Flynn
The Painting
Childhood strokes
of primitive palettes
a nautical theme
I’d guess.
Secrets stored beneath
impermeable glass
unlocked, spilling out
layers of lifetimes.
Fragments ponderable
within the incessant
ocean.
Pieces unasked
rearrange forming
new meaning--
a puzzle
with endless possibilities.
- JoAnn Flynn
Poems by Women in Prison:
My Name
My name could be your name
Had you had my mother and father
If I had a choice
My name
Wouldn’t be my name
I would have chosen a name more worthy
A name to embrace my excellence
Something royal like Queen
Or expensive like Diamond
Or strong like Faith
Or Rose, the most beautiful and painful flower of them all
But my name isn’t any of those
It’s this
The same name for 31 years
The name I have love/hate for
In the mouth of a man
My name is pure honey
In the mouth of my family
My name means love
In the mouth of the judge and officers
My name means 313619
In the eyes of my GOD
My name is beloved
-Sherita
The Hawk
A lone hawk soars
So noble, so sleek
Carefree in spirit
Not somber nor meek
As it glides through the clouds
Unaware that below
Live misfits and sinners
Societies foe
Estranged from the outside
We need to forgive
Ourselves and our neighbors
In order to live
The hawk does not judge us
As it takes flight to show
Freedom is precious
The time’s now to grow
So when it’s the season
To walk through the gate
Let the lone hawk remind us
This was a trial, not fate
- Deborah C.
My Name
My name could be your name
Had you had my mother and father
If I had a choice
My name
Wouldn’t be my name
I would have chosen a name more worthy
A name to embrace my excellence
Something royal like Queen
Or expensive like Diamond
Or strong like Faith
Or Rose, the most beautiful and painful flower of them all
But my name isn’t any of those
It’s this
The same name for 31 years
The name I have love/hate for
In the mouth of a man
My name is pure honey
In the mouth of my family
My name means love
In the mouth of the judge and officers
My name means 313619
In the eyes of my GOD
My name is beloved
-Sherita
The Hawk
A lone hawk soars
So noble, so sleek
Carefree in spirit
Not somber nor meek
As it glides through the clouds
Unaware that below
Live misfits and sinners
Societies foe
Estranged from the outside
We need to forgive
Ourselves and our neighbors
In order to live
The hawk does not judge us
As it takes flight to show
Freedom is precious
The time’s now to grow
So when it’s the season
To walk through the gate
Let the lone hawk remind us
This was a trial, not fate
- Deborah C.
Poems by Children:
Seedling
I am a seedling
reaching up
to a star in the sky.
My leaves
of emerald green
are sharp and sparkle.
I am dry and thirsty.
I need someone
to water me
with love.
- Christie, Grade K
I Believe in Myself
I am like a plant
of shimmering gold
with leaves outstretched
reaching for the light.
My stem is sturdy
steady now in the enriched
soil.
Like the shock of
lightning
my leaves burst
with the excitement
of learning.
I have emerged
I believe in
myself.
- Zachary, Grade 2
Seedling
I am a seedling
reaching up
to a star in the sky.
My leaves
of emerald green
are sharp and sparkle.
I am dry and thirsty.
I need someone
to water me
with love.
- Christie, Grade K
I Believe in Myself
I am like a plant
of shimmering gold
with leaves outstretched
reaching for the light.
My stem is sturdy
steady now in the enriched
soil.
Like the shock of
lightning
my leaves burst
with the excitement
of learning.
I have emerged
I believe in
myself.
- Zachary, Grade 2