Poetry pharmacies showcase the healing power of poetry

Photos of Sigma Tau Delta's Alpha Pi Epsilon chapter poetry pharmacy.

Poetry is all about putting the best words in the best order to rhythmically convey imagery in a way that elicits an emotional response. Likewise, those emotional responses can have a therapeutic effect. So why not prescribe poems to people who need to hear them?

That's where William Sieghart's idea to host poetry pharmacies comes into play.

A few years ago, William Sieghart hosted a TED Talk explaining how he became a poetry pharmacist. He said he realized that poetry had healing power after he recommended relevant poems to people based on how they were feeling.

Sieghart's work has also inspired others. For instance, the Alpha Pi Epsilon chapter of international English honor society Sigma Tau Delta hosts a traveling poetry pharmacy on Utah Tech University's campus, and they've been working to expand into the local community as well.

Likewise, the chapter had a roundtable presentation at the honor society's annual convention this year, and they gave a demonstration at a chapter display table identical to the one seen below.

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I've run Alpha Pi Epsilon's poetry pharmacy several times myself, and the results are always positive.

In one instance, an entire class came to experience the pharmacy after their professor saw my social media post with that day's location.

Likewise, on days when I've hosted the pharmacy outside the exercise-focused Human Performance Center, athletic-looking people have asked for poems about body image.

And on other days, students who are on their way to take tests have asked for poems addressing anxiety, and those who have experienced a breakup asked for poems addressing heartbreak, among other experiences.

One of my peers also said that a student asked for a poem from the "Hope" category, and after my peer offered Tupac Shakur's poem "The Rose That Grew from Concrete," the student confided that they'd been considering suicide and the poem made them reconsider.

Poetry's healing power has so much potential, and poetry pharmacies are a wonderful way to make that power accessible to communities at large.

Songs 'inspired' by poetry: Shrews, Hughes, and Blues

 10 Things I Hate About You

Officially, Leah Kate says that her song "10 Things I Hate About You" wasn't inspired by the 1999 movie of the same name or its corresponding poem, just a loser ex.

But I feel like there has to be some subconscious connection given the nearly identical themes between the song and the movie—which was itself inspired by Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew."

Regardless, the song is a punchy tune that will make you want to watch the movie again, or at least the scene with the poem.

The Dream Keeper

"The Dream Keeper" by Langston Hughes is a lovely little poem that was turned into an equally lovely choral tune.

I learned the song for choir, and it quickly became one of my favorites. Likewise, the song was a big help for when I later had an assignment that required me to memorize a poem.

Killing Me Softly

The 1973 song "Killing Me Softly" by Roberta Flack, also popularly covered by Fugees, was inspired by Lori Lieberman's poem-turned-song of the same name.

Also, the famous line "Killing me softly with his song" was apparently originally "Killing me softly with his blues," something that changed when Lieberman didn't like the effect of the original line.

I think the changed lyric was definitely to the song's advantage with that sweet sense of alliteration.

A few of my favorite poems

Poems that tell stories or have a cathartic value, whether through imagery or a rhythmic flow, really speak to me. To best illustrate this, let's take a look at a few of my favorite poems.

The Raven

Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" is a classic narrative poem that continues to remain popular. The rendition in the video above is narrated by Sir Christopher Lee, which is perfect for the ominous vibe the poem gives.

Beyond Poe's talent for imagery and storytelling, the rhythmic flow of the poem has a wonderful effect, especially since most renditions feverishly speed up during the narrator's desperate pleas with the titular raven.

Reading or listening to a rendition of "The Raven" is one thing I'll never say "Nevermore" to.

I Give You Back

Joy Harjo has a number of great poems, especially in her book "She Had Some Horses." One of my favorite poems by the former poet laureate is "I Give You Back," also called "A Poem to Get Rid of Fear."

The video above shows the rendition that most resonates with me, but I also suggest watching one of her live performances of the poem. "I Give You Back" does feature some heavy topics, but those topics and the way Harjo delivers the poem are what makes the poem so cathartic.

Harjo has a way of presenting and preserving the culture of the indigenous nations she belongs to, which made her a fascinating poet to study in my multicultural literature class.

We Real Cool

One of my favorite poems that I learned in college is Gwendolyn Brooks' "We Real Cool," heard in the video above. The poem's meter has a rhythmic flow that can be deciphered when reading it, but hearing Brooks recite it is a real treat. Likewise, Morgan Freeman does a pretty good rendition.

"We Real Cool" is a jazz poem with a lot of great metaphors and imagery, as well as a solid narrative quality. Brooks' poem continues to serve as inspiration in poetry classes to this day.

"We Real Cool" stuck with me so much that I even created my own poem as an homage to it, though I haven't managed to get my poem published, which is unfortunate since it's the poem I feel the most confident about.

Nevermore Academy from 'Wednesday' is a love letter to Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe is a small but integral part of the first season of Netflix's "Wednesday."

The school where the majority of the plot takes place, Nevermore Academy, is a clear reference to Poe's popular poem "The Raven" and the callbacks don't stop there.

The school's tournament involving canoeing to Raven Island and capturing the flag is known as the Poe Cup, and each of the teams is representative of one of Poe's poems or short stories: the Black Cats, the Amontillado, the Pit and the Pendulum, and the Gold Bugs.

Likewise, Wednesday Addams gains entry to a secret room by performing the iconic double snap in front of a statue of Poe, the school dance is called the Rave'N, and the entire school has ravens incorporated into its design.

Not to mention all the other references to ravens throughout the show that aren't explicitly related to the school itself. And those are just the references I caught while watching. I don't know which showrunner has a love of the famous poet, but I tip my hat to them for all the references and how natural they feel.

I enjoy Edgar Allan Poe as well, particularly in regard to "The Raven," and I feel that Poe's vibe matches Wednesday's quite well, so this was a great pairing. I look forward to seeing if the references continue in the next season, whenever that may be.

'O Me! O Life!' scene in 'Dead Poets Society' is underrated

When you think of characters reciting Walt Whitman's poetry in "Dead Poets Society," you probably think of the scene where the students stand on their desks repeating "O Captain! My Captain!" near the end of the film, seen in the video below.

But another underrated Whitman poem partially recited in the film is "O Me! O Life!" John Keating (Robin Williams) recites the poem as he's telling his students about the importance of poetry.

He says, "Medicine, law, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for."

Then he goes on to quote the poem, which features a particularly poignant line about how "the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse," and he asks the students what their verse will be, as shown in the video below.

This is an excellent illustration of the power of poetry and it's also a great example of how to get students interested in a subject they might otherwise overlook.

Granted, not every teacher has the charisma of Robin Williams, and even those who do might come across a little eccentric, but being passionate about a subject and drawing connections to students' other interests is a skill all teachers should strive for.

I've been teaching college English composition classes for nearly a year and a half, and I've found that some of my best lectures are the ones where I ask students to draw on their interests, and where I share how I've applied essay-writing skills to my own interests.

When Williams' character acknowledges the students' other interests such as medical school and business school and then tries to connect them back to the poetry, he employs a useful teaching skill and emphasizes poetry's importance.

The scene tends to take a backseat to others, particularly the "O Captain! My Captain!" theme that runs throughout the movie, but "O Me! O Life!" and its use in this scene deserves to be given props.