Pigeon Mail – Express Delivery – Poetry Therapy Across Continents

Sometimes there are no words to describe an encounter, no words better than the actual words and so here is a magical encounter:

11/26/13

Dear Bahareh,

I hope this email finds you well. I will introduce ‘One Word’ to my Master 1 Psychology students tomorrow as our Poetry Therapy sequel and I am writing to plant a seed…  Would you consider speaking to us if you were on a trip to France? Thank you in advance for your kind consideration and thank you for inspiring me.

Kindly, A

11/26/13

Dearest A.

Hello, what an absolute delight to receive your message, your call. I take this as a gift, a gift and a reminder. I am honored to know that these words have touched your heart and soul, and I am honored that you are sharing it with your class.

This poem “Stop Me from Jumping over the Bridge of Life with ONE WORD”, is actually a poem that is over one hundred verses long. We chose a few of those verses to make the video. Truly, until the very last moment, I was not sure what the word would be.

As you know, poetry is a gift to me…. a gift to remind me of how beautiful words are and how they can help an individual to express one’s feelings. I believe that writing is the first step of healing and that it is when poetry is read and shared that the real healing begins to happen. Giving words a Voice is so powerful.

I am touched by your invitation, and would absolutely love to come to talk with your class, I am not sure when that could be. I will be in London for the holidays, but I am afraid at that time your University will also be on break.

I have never done this, but as I read your email, an idea came into my mind…. I will just share it with you. I can certainly come for a visit to your classroom via skype. We could spend some time talking about poetry therapy and even do a short five to seven minute writing together, just for everyone to get a sense of the magic of poetry therapy in action. I could send you a selection of 3 poems before we meet, and we might work with one of the poems. Again, this is just an idea that popped into my head and I thought I would share with you.

May I ask how you learned about my work? And how about Poetry Therapy, when did you become familiar with this gift. Please send my regards to your students. From me to you…. Gratitude.

Truly and always

InLight 

Bahareh

11/28/13

Dearest Bahareh,

I hope this message finds you very well. I am honored and excited about your prompt enthusiastic reply. I have shared with the students (who are equally excited) and must run your ‘seed’ through our administration to make sure we can begin growing our ‘garden’.

As the semester is fast coming to its close, life on campus is rather busy and it might take me a little time to get back to you thoroughly.  I thank you in advance for your patience and wish you a safe trip to Europe.

Sincerely, A.

PS: here is for you one of my favorite poems by C. Baudelaire

The Joyful Dead

In a rich, heavy soil, infested with snails,

I wish to dig my own grave, wide and deep,

Where I can at leisure stretch out my old bones

And sleep in oblivion like a shark in the wave.

I have a hatred for testaments and for tombs;

Rather than implore a tear of the world,

I’d sooner, while alive, invite the crows

To drain the blood from my filthy carcass.

O worms! black companions with neither eyes nor ears,

See a dead man, joyous and free, approaching you;

Wanton philosophers, children of putrescence,

Go through my ruin then, without remorse,

And tell me if there still remains any torture

For this old soulless body, dead among the dead!

11/29/13

Dearest A.

Hello, and thank you for writing back with such warmth. I am happy that you and the students are open to this idea, I am sure the details will work out in time. There is no hurry at all, I am here any time all the time.

And how to thank you for this poem you have shared with me, I did not see this before…It speaks of such truth with such a wise and elegant voice.  Acceptance, no regret and reality, the Raw Truth. As I started reading it, I was reminded of the title of one of my poetry journals; “The Flowers in the Refrigerator are for my Grave” ….Somehow also has that acceptance in it….

Once again, thank you for writing, for meeting me at this threshold of my journey…. and sharing the path with me.  B

February 17/2014

Subject: From seed to flower: University of Lorraine-Metz

Dear Bahareh,

I hope this email finds you well and that you had a smooth transition into the new year. It seems that a Skype conference will not be possible on our campus for security reasons.  Hence, I have thought hard as to make our seed flourish in the spring and here is what I’d like to suggest:

The students of the Department of Psychology, who I teach English to, have launched a Newspaper in which and English feature exists.  If you agree, I’d like to gather student questions to you, organize a phone call or Skype from a non-campus location in order for a small group of student-journalists to interview you, edit the interview and submit it to the paper for publication this Spring Semester.

Would this idea suit you? I very much look forward to hearing from you.

Kindest regards,

Feb 18

Dearest A,

Hello, yes the transition to the new year has been wonderful. I have just returned from my courses at The Institute for Poetic Medicine in California, I am charged and recharged with all the wonders of poetry and poetry as healer. I completely understand that some universities have their own rules and regulations. I think it is a fine idea you have, truly anything that you think will work will be wonderful for me.

Your passion and desire to bring this idea of Poetry Therapy to your students touches me so deeply, I wish I could just fly over and spend a couple of sessions in your class, just to be with you and your students and then if questions arose to answer them…. for now though I suggest we go with your suggestion.

Best and Always InLight

Bahareh

Feb18

Dear Bahareh,

I am happy to hear back from you and know that you are well. I lived in Southern California for 12 years and can imagine the conference was amazing!  The students and I will begin work this week on the interview questions and I’ll get back to you next month with schedule options.

Thank you very much for making yourself available.  If I were to win the lottery, I would send you plane tickets in a heart beat.

Yours sincerely, A.

Thank you Dear A.

I feel I have won the lottery with your enthusiasm…

Will wait to hear from you: )

March 31

Dear Bahareh,

I hope this email finds you well and healthful.

The students have turned in their questions to me and I am writing to ask if you would be available either on the 2nd or 3rd week of April to interview.  As we’re not allowed to use Skype on campus for security reasons, the student journalists will come to my home.  Would either

Friday at 7:00pm (9:00pm in Dubai) work? I look forward to hearing from and wish you a nice week.

Kindest regards,

April 1

Dearest A,

Hello, happy spring to you, I hope that your life is filled with blossoms in the months to come. I am in awe of your perseverance, and I am honored that you will make such arrangements. I am in the US and return around the tenth of April, so I would say that April 18th which is the third week would be ideal at nine pm.

Please let me know how much time we will have together, I will be very flexible and in no hurry to go anywhere. I am asking because I find it would be fantastic to give the students a short, very short capsule talk on poetry as healer and then have them ask questions, or first ask and then i talk. It will also be great time for us to write together, even if it is for 3 to 5 minutes, they can really experience the magic of poetry therapy.

Touched by your kindness and really soooooo excited to meet you and your wonderful students.

Truly and Always InLight

Bahareh

April 3

Dear Bahareh,

Thank you for your speed-of-light response.  We were inspired by you and are thrilled at the opportunity you are giving us to interview you…

It took me a little longer than expected to coordinate with the three student-journalists who will interview you and I would like to know if you could rather meet up on Monday, April 14th at 5:00pm in Metz/7:00pm in Dubai as opposed to the originally suggested Friday evening option.

Our questions are ready.  Would you like a copy now or do you prefer to be surprised during our live-chat?

The students and I would genuinely enjoy the format you suggested (talk, interview, writing) and I believe an hour and a half will be sufficient for this workshop.  What do you think?  We can obviously shorten if need be on your end.  As a single mom conducting the interview from my home, my son will also be in the audience!

My Skype ID is:  A.  What is yours?

I wish you a brilliant night and look forward as always to reading you.

Kindest regards,
April 5

Dearest A,

Hello all sounds great. April 14 is great. Delighted your son will join;).

Something magical about not having the questions ahead. Will let you know if I change my mind;) or of you think I may need prep time. My Skype name is Bahareh.  I am truly so looking forward to out time.

Best, Bahareh

By the way I am in SanFrancisco now and head home to abu dhabi in few days .

April 12

Dearest A

Hello, just checking in with you as our meeting time approaches. I have gone on Skype to try to send you a request with no luck. Would you kindly try sending me one under my name. I am still in US California… decided to stay a bit longer with my mother… But we will keep our meeting time the same as it is now. It works out well for me.

Best InLight

April 14

Dear Bahareh,

I hope you are doing well.  I am ok myself. The student-journalists and myself are ready for our meeting today.

We can’t wait!

Kindly yours, A.

April 26

Dearest A,

Hello, how are you? And your wonderful students. It was such a pleasure meeting you all on Skype call, really fantastic. The entire experience was something I enjoyed so much. I just got back to UAE and have been going through my emails and some work. I know that your students had some additional questions, I would be happy to answer those. Please feel free to send them to me.

Also, if there is anything else I can add to our conversation to make the experience with poetry therapy more complete please let me know. Again, thank you for your time, for your diligence in making it all happen.

Truly yours, InLight

Bahareh

Also, thank you opening up in your writing, especially since it was in front of your students. It takes a special person to do that. I think it also takes a special space we all created together, a space of respecting each other’s words. Let me know if you want me to send you the poem I wrote when we were together.

 April 29

Bahareh my dear,

I hope you are doing fine. I’m in Paris visiting my parents now that we will have spring break. Our students were thrilled and notes interview found that most were covered by the remaining questions. I’ll check all the same twice and will come back to you. Could we use your website to portrait for our article

Have a fantastic weekend!

Kind regards,

April 29

Dearest A,

Enjoy your time with your parents. I am glad to know that the questions were answered. You know where I am if you need anything. Yes, of course use my website…

And again do let me know if you would like to include the poems, I can send mine.

Also if it is not too much to ask, I would be grateful if you would send me a few lines talking about your experience as we spent time together. Also if each of your students would be willing to give me a short even one or two line “Statement”, this would mean alot to me. If for any reason this is not possible, I completely understand as well.

Truly yours, Always, InLight

May 6

Dear Bahareh,

Thank you!

With exams and corrections, the students and I are working on a date for our session write-up.  Please send us your poem as if it might not be into our interview article, we shall cherish it for sure.  We will not only provide it to you and ad the “statement” you asked. I hope all is well with you and I look forward to corresponding with you soon.

I wanted to include a little gift from the “Great Black Music” exhibit I went to see during my trip to Paris but internet is not working well, so I’ll save it for later…

Sincerely, A

May 7

Dearest A,

Hello, you are Fantastic!!! I went to youtube and watched and listened to some “Great Black Music, you must be energized after such an exhibit, full of life, color and love. I look so forward to seeing the writeup whenever it is ready. Wishing you a great few weeks at the end of the school year.

Blessings, Bahareh

I have attached both John’s original poem and the one I wrote when we were together.Gratitude

Below find attachment:

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

Poetry Writing Session; University of Lorraine

From John Fox’s poem “When Someone Deeply Listens to You”:

My Poem:

When someone does not deeply listen to me…

I feel as a child lost in a tornado

I feel as a person who has lost their lantern in the cave

The presence of a labyrinth with no center

The reality of life when not connected

through the umbilical cord of life

But here in I breathe

I take a breath and ask for guidance and Light

I feel heard and guided through the universe by

Light

July 25

Dear Bahareh,

I hope this email finds you well.

Attached, please find the interview notes as published today in PDF on our student forum.  I apologizing for delaying in making them available but here they are now!

Lastly, these are the questions we still had that remained.  We are not seeking answers as you were more than generous with us with you time but I thought they could come in handy to you at a later time:

1.On your website you wrote: “Please remember that it is best to listen with your eyes and look with your heart. That is when you truly start to see the elegance of a spider spinning his web.” What do you mean when you say “listen with your eyes and look with your heart”?

2.Is it difficult to be a woman in the UAE? Do you experience challenges exercising your job as a woman in Dubai ?

3.Do you have you any advice for someone who wants to begin writing poems?

4.What are your projects for the future? Where do you foresee yourself to be in ten years from now?

I wish you and yours a fantastic summer and do hope we’ll meet in person some day.

Gratefully yours, A.

July 27

Oh my Dear Dear A,

Hello, what a gift, what a gift of hearts and pure minds. Thank you for this, please please send my love and gratitude to ALL.

And yes, I too hope we will meet one day. I know there is a reason for every path to cross, and so there is indeed a reason for this meeting here now.

Please know that my time is your time, I am so happy to have had this experience with you and your wonderful students. I hope that the gift of writing continues to flow…

I have put together a small booklet of poems as prompts, if you ever want let me know and I will forward it to you: 0 )

As for now, the questions that remained, I would love to answer them, for I learn so much from these wonderful thoughtful questions.

1.  What do you mean when you say “listen with your eyes and look with your heart”?

Why do I say listen with your eyes and look with your heart…. it is because the heart does not discriminate with color or race or religion or wealth, the heart is simply accepting of love, life and light… and so one can see clearer the gifts of the world. If one were to listen with one’s eyes…. one would not hear the noise…. but only simply the sounds of and wonder of life….

To tell you the truth, this is the first time I am thinking about that statement, but it really does make sense now that I write about it.

2. Is it difficult to be a woman in the UAE? Do you experience challenges exercising your job as a woman in Dubai ?

I do not experience any challenges as a woman. To be honest, I have found being myself has opened so many doors in my work for me. I guess where there is pure intention and heart, the doors open.

Another thing that can help is that I never identify myself as a woman, I identify myself as a being, and so I am comfortable in all situations.

3. Do you have you any advice for someone who wants to begin writing poems?

Yes, my advice is Just Do it…. ( I think Nike copied me: )

But seriously, I would simply say just get a piece of paper a pen and open your heart… Do not ask why  do not stop yourself. Know that the paper will receive what the heart has to tell. Poetry flows and flows only when we allow it to breathe.

4. What are your projects for the future? Where do you foresee yourself to be in ten years from now

I love this question, it is so well, it is… perhaps so needed for me at this time in my life.

I am not one who plans years ahead of time, however that does not mean that I do nothing. I am a doer.

I know when things need to be done when they do. Like now I know that my presence is so needed in my immediate family, but also an opportunity has come up possibly to work with a group bringing the arts to hospitals around the world. They have asked me to be the team poetry therapist. To this I say YES.

Where do I see myself ten years from now…. I see myself here now…I hope to be PRESENT where ever I am.

One thing for sure though is that I would like to pass on this gift of poetry as healer to as many people as I can.

Dear A,

Thank you again for this opportunity, for this space for this time.

May I ask you a favor, is it okay with you if I include this beautiful report on my website. Is it okay to name your University and yourself, if not it is no problem and I can understand, or I can simply say your first name.

Do you think your students would like to be mentioned by name?

You will know best, and I will respect what you will tell me.

With love and, InLight, Always

Bahareh

Regards to all.

July 27

Dear all,

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful summer!

I’ll be away from my email from July 25th to August 25th yet shall respond to you promptly upon my return.

Kind regards,

Sep 5

Dearest Bahareh,

Thank you and sorry for such a late response.  I had a rich summer break and am having a very busy back to school: recruiting, planning and being both a mom and lover as well.

We’d love the booklet as I have 2 Poetry Therapy sessions with my new 3rd year students this November.

As for your request, yes, you can upload the write-up on your website but I have to inquire whether or not the students/university can be mentioned.  Thank you for your understanding on this ‘legal’ matter.

I have been here lately to prep for courses: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/

Enjoy your weekend!  Respectfully yours,

A.

Sep 8

Dear Bahareh,

I hope you are doing well.

My director allows you to mention our university on your website.  Floriane MEYER & Julien BRUNO have accepted to be mentioned by name.  I would prefer to be mentioned only as Ms. A (long painful story…).  And R. did not reply yet so I’ll let you know when he does.

Have a brilliant week! Faithfully,

Sep 15

Dear A,

Hello, I hope you are starting a wonderful semester filled with knowledge and Light. I am sorry, I did not see your emails earlier. Gratitude for checking with your students.  I will be cognizant and respectful of their wishes, and yours of course: )

I will let you know when i post it in the future sometime. Also, I am thinking the booklet, I am not sure, but it must be the booklet of poetry that is good to start writing from.

I am sending it to you here now, if there is anything else you need do let me know.

Best always, Bahareh

Also thank you for the link you sent me, very helpful.

 Sep 15

By the way, meant to share with you one of the link to the best book on Biblio/Poetry Therapy: The Interactive Process: A Handbook…. incase it is something you want to learn even more about:

http://www.amazon.com/Biblio-Poetry-Therapy-Interactive-Handbook/dp/0878390898/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410790321&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=biblio%2Fpoetry+therapy+arleen+hyes

Sep 16

Dear A,

Hello, I hope you are well. Sorry to bother you AGAIN!!!

I just have been thinking of the post I will write introducing the final interview notes and acknowledgements.

I went back and was reading our correspondence, it is truly beautiful how this garden started to grow and what it has become.

I was wondering if it is okay with you if I use parts of our emails to each other in my writing the web site post…. You will always remain

Ms. A : )  and I will surely let you read the complete post before I put it up. I just wanted to check with you: )

Best always

Sept 17

Dear Bahareh,

YES! Absolutely.

I am inspired by our correspondence so much so that I am weaving a ‘ASK SOMEONE WHO’ project for my 3rd year students.  I’ll keep you posted on its progression.

Cheers to a great Wednesday!

A.

Sep 17

Wonderful thank you dear friend.

Kisses

Always

Below Please find the complete beautiful report:

I am grateful to the students at the University of Lorraine for their time, and their dedication. I am thankful to their wonderful teacher that made this meeting possible,

and mostly I am sitting with deep gratitude to the Universe for allowing me to do what I love to do, and sharing this gift with others in the world.

InLight

Bahareh

And as I like to be complete in this correspondence, let me mention that I sent the draft to Ms.A and this was the return mail:

November 3, 2014