Poetry: The Healer

By Alyson Swann, See the Triumph Guest Blogger

You are a survivor and healing is an ongoing process. Poetry is one way to explore the healing process and build yourself up through self-expression.  Poetry is one of the most beneficial forms of therapy. The art of writing poetry is an amazing tool for healing and personal growth. It provides unique opportunities of self-discovery and self-love. Life and energy are discovered through the words of poetry. The writing of poetry gives us the chance to discover how our vulnerabilities and strengths thrive together. Poetry gives voice to what is wounded in our lives, and has the power to guide us through rough times. Poetry profoundly heals and transforms. Poetry is life!

Helpful Steps in Writing Poetry:

1. Choose a subject that connects to your innermost thoughts, struggles, and experiences. Allow your mind to partner with your heart in creating a focus of the poem. What is it that your heart wants to say? How would you like to convey your experiences and emotions through words and the images that live within them?
   
2. Decide what message or mood you want the poem to portray. How can you lift yourself up, as well as others, through your poem? How can you allow your voice to be heard? Through pain? Through hope? Through faith?
   
3. Consider the style of writing that you would like to articulate your thoughts in. There is no limit to the ways in which you can express yourself through poetry!
   
4. Once you have created your poem, read it out loud! Explore your words and connect yourself with them. Release the voice from within! Embrace the healing of self through self-expression!

Alyson E. Swann is a BA student in the Theatre Arts Department of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, currently representing the prestigious Pi Zeta chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. as Miss Black and Gold.  She is a natural born writer and poet, and plans to use her gifts to reach and touch the lives of women all over the world. Aside from writing, acting has always been her heart’s true desire. She has recently been casted in a local television show entitled “Stay the Night” which will air in 2015 on local television station “MY48”. Her plans are to further her acting career immediately following graduation. The philosophy that she lives by is “Change is the essence of Life. Be willing to surrender who you are, for what you could become.”