The Poetry Cure

'This book of poems is for all of us who go through illness, deal with doctors, hospitals, and experiences such as bereavement and ageing, and who struggle to find language to describe the suffering we have to go through. Medical language baffles and alienates us. It's a harsh, unforgiving vocabulary that often seems to bear no relationship to our own emotional predicament. In this uplifting anthology we see how poetry can give us metaphors and images to help us understand our feelings and communicate them to people around us. This is a book that should be in every waiting-room, and should be by the bed of every GP and consultant. It may inspire you to write poetry, and also help you to find order in the chaos of ill health. By giving us words, poetry can help cure us.' julia darling & cynthia fuller

ISBN 1852246901   Pages 128 ISBN13 9781852246907 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Bloodaxe Books Ltd   Weight (grammes) 163 Imprint Bloodaxe Books Ltd   Published in Tyne and Wear Format Paperback   Height (mm) 216 Publication date 01 Apr 2005   Width (mm) 138 Library of Congress PR   Spine width (mm) 7 DEWEY 808.8193561   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

		Preface by Cynthia Fuller		9
		Introduction by Julia Darling		11
		From 'In memory of W. B. Yeats' by W. H. Auden		15
		How to behave with the ill by Julia Darling		16
		Children imagining a hospital by U. A. Fanthorpe		18
		My old friend hospital by Julia Darling		18
		Waiting room by U. A. Fanthorpe		19
		A waiting room in August by Julia Darling		20
		Out-patients by Carole Satyamurti		20
		Strange beasts by Beda Higgins		21
		Ward mouth by Pat Borthwick		22
		In-patient by Carole Satyamurti		23
		The anaesthetist by Anne Rouse		23
		Nurses by Julia Darling		24
		Dr. Hanagan by Ann O'Neill		25
		Common and particular by David Constantine		25
		Names by Wendy Cope		26
		Health check by Penny Feinstein		27
		After visiting hours by U. A. Fanthorpe		28
		Otherwise by Jane Kenyon		30
		Of you by Norman MacCaig		30
		Miserere by Ifigenija Simonovic		31
		Wild geese by Mary Oliver		32
		Sometimes by Sheenagh Pugh		32
		Everything is going to be all right by Derek Mahon		33
		Prayer by Richard Lambert		33
		Release by Myra Schneider		34
		More...

'When we're ill we're forced to recognise that we've become another person - unfamiliar, frail and mortal. The adjustment is painful and it's well-nigh impossible to find the words to describe how alien our sick self seems. These poems magically supply the images and emotions that help us to accept our inexpressible vulnerability.' Dr Miriam Stoppard

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