Bringing Poetry Therapy to UAE University in Al Ain

What a memorable and magical day I have had at UAEU. The warmth and welcome of the students, faculty and staff has left me full of life and light.

The planning of my visit to UAEU started about 5 months ago when I was contacted by Elin Ahmadpour who is a member of the faculty.  She had attended Speak Abu Dhabi at the Sorbonne University and  we have been in contact since then until today when we met. Thank you Elin for your invitation and for introducing me to your English Department and also the Writing Center on both the Ladies and the Men’s campus.

In this post what I would like to capture are some of my thoughts and feelings and also of course images for the day,  and then to ask any of the students, and the faculty and staff who might want to comment here. The comments can take the form of a poem you wrote while we were in workshop together, or it can be your thoughts about the talk on poetry and poetry therapy…. or anything you FEEL like sharing.

Our first session was in the Ladies campus, and we were in a large auditorium of about 150 seats and indeed there were some people standing.  I was truly so honored by the PRESENCE of so many young students and also so many professors, of  English, Arabic Literature, and some that had just come for the experience. The experience and depth of the professors left me humbled.

The session was a beautiful one, in the sense that I spoke about how poetry has come to my life and then about how I like bringing poetry as healer to people’s lives. I shared one of the poems that I like to work with in workshops, this poem is from my teacher and mentor of Poetry Therapy John Fox.

When Someone Deeply Listens To You

When someone deeply listens to you

it is like holding out a dented cup

you’ve had since childhood

and watching it fill up with

cold, fresh water.

When it balances on top of the brim,

you are understood.

When it overflows and touches your skin,

you are loved.

 

When someone deeply listens to you,

the room where you stay

starts a new life

and the place where you wrote

your first poem

begins to glow in your mind’s eye.

It is as if gold has been discovered!

 

When someone deeply listens to you,

your bare feet are on the earth

and a beloved land that seemed distant

is now at home within you.

— John Fox

From this poem I gave the prompt: when someone deeply listens to me …… or when someone does not deeply listen to me….

We all wrote together for around 5 minutes and then came back in what I call a circle even though we were in an auditorium of well over a hundred or so people.

I wrote:

When someone deeply does not listen to me

I feel my tears shed to the ground with no mother earth to receive 

When someone deeply listened to me

I find my voice and 

My soul glows

There were so many open hearts willing to share. Having talked about the sacred circle we are in and the fact that there are no rights or wrongs….  everyone listened with respect and honor as poetry was shared. We even had the chance to do some mirroring back, which is the repeating of the words to the poet. The beauty of mirroring back is that the poet is able to know what pieces may have resonated with someone else and also is able to hear his or her own words in someone else’s voice.

I was proud to share the work of my beautiful friend Hamdah Al Mansouri, one of her poems was read in Arabic by a student and I read the translation. You can read more about Hamdah’s work : A poem by a Special Needs Advocate…. it is clear why I think it is an inspiration when we speak about poetry as healer and also poetry giving us wings to fly and to do anything we want.

I was presented the most beautiful bouquet of flowers at the end of the session… and was led to the Writing Center with some of the ladies that have recently formed a poetry group with Elin. By the way I loved hearing the touching story of how Elin started writing poetry and how it has helped her in her life and healing throughout the years.

At the Writing Center we had time to work on another writing piece, from the poem WINDOWS…. it was great to hear all the poetry and depth of voice from the people around the table.  There was a beautiful board done on poetry and I was honored to write on the board along with all the others in the poetry group

I wrote:
All I want is a window

A window free of judgement

A window void of sadness

A window full of truth

A window filled with Light

All I want is the lack of window and

a vessel for life

We were then invited across the hallway for a “snack”. I write snack in quotation marks because a grand table was set in the middle with table-cloth, flower, candles and such elegance and love. The feast that was set was fit for a king…okay maybe for a POETESS….. A warm reception by all. The food and the delicious desserts were just an excuse. It was the open hearts and souls that truly fed my soul.

After our “snack” we went to the men’s campus where we were met at the Writing Center with a Large room full of young students, professors, and I later found out that I had the honor of having the Dean of the Department with us.  Here a similar, but altered talk was delivered and we did a writing exercise and the sharing of poetry. It is incredible, in the beginning it was hard to get the gentlemen started in writing poetry at the end it was hard to stop them from wanting to share. I guess it is just to show the power of poetry. A beautiful potted flower of the desert was presented, many questions, pictures and goodbyes. I was interviewed at the end by one of the professors, and was touched that there were still many students and others that remained to listen to the end. I was walked to the car with glory love and my flowers…. the beauty of these flowers I will cherish for ever…. and by flower I mean the memories, the ripples and the light.

A couple of days after my visit I wrote the Dean Dr. Timothy Hegstrom to thank him for attending the lecture. I was so happy to receive the following note and poem in reply:

Thank you, Bahareh. It was good therapy for me, as well as the students.  I completed the assignment too, by the way:

 

When someone deeply listens to me,

My mind hikes over a great divide and

Follows a mountain stream down a slope

Until it cuts into others.

Some I follow.

Some I leap across.

Some I ford

Only to find that the water was deeper than I thought,

Maybe deeper than the listening.

I am lost now, having wandered off the trail,

But I am found again in your affirmation.

 

I was impressed that the room was full of young men who came voluntarily and were highly involved.  It was a good occasion.

Best wishes,

Tim Hegstrom

 

A warm thanks again to everyone who made today possible, to the camera crew, to the students, faculty, Dean, professors and those feeding the body so that the soul could swim in the words and with the voices.

With all my love and gratitude to UAEU. Please know that I would love to come back for visits. I am also looking forward to future collaborations with you.

I look forward to receiving your poems, and your comments on this blog below in the comment box.

 

Also I had talked about SPEAK ABU DHABI, here are some links to the event: Video links can be found at bottom of the blog post:

Speak Abu Dhabi I– at Abu Dhabi Theater

Speak Abu Dhabi II– at Sorbonne University

Who knows maybe one day Speak Al Ain…. with your cooperation. InshAllah.

Also the video we tried to share with some technical problems.

The Invitation of the Mosque

The Invitation of the Mosque in Arabic Translation by a poet Wissal Al-Allaq

 

This post was written by dear Elin Fretland Ahmadpour on Face Book:

A fantastic day was had by all here at UAE University!!! Dr. Bahareh Amidi was on campus today and conducted two poetry workshops for our students. The students absolutely LOVED her!! She definitely achieved Rock Star status!! I myself was in complete awe of her and what she does with Poetry Therapy. Poetry and the power of words has the ability to transform and heal. (Thank you Elin *Like)

Special thanks to Elin Ahmadpour and Elizabeth Whitehouse for making today possible.

Thank you UAEU for a great day and wonderful ripples and memories.

About two weeks after my visit to UAEU and I got this post from a blogger at the University. What a real gift:

student blog about visit:    http://writingandspeakingcenteruae.wordpress.com/

 

* Please note that as I receive pictures from the photographer and also the video I will be posting it here and also on my face book page.