The aim of expressive poetry writing is not to write clever poetry, but to roam, feeling free to express anything that comes to your mind. Poetry is almost like a form of mental dancing. Your mental "mind-moves" do not need to make rational sense.
We all have a free and creative voice that is uncensored and is not carefully planning what to say next. To find mental fluidity of expression takes daily practice, like building a muscle over time. Spontaneous poetry invites new insights into expression.
1. Reach into the edge of your own mind to express what is unique, free, honest and uniquely you.
2. Explore the edge of what you think your should say from your mind, and what you really need to say from your emotions.
3. Lean into what feels forbidden for you to say, and create a poem that expresses what you honestly feel.
4. Be creative with your poem's structure. Try writing very short poems that take a few minutes and long poems that take days to write.
Writing poetry is a way to listen to your original voice. Writer Henry Miller found his original voice by allowing himself to write from the edges of his mind, "Immediately I heard my own voice, I was enchanted: the fact that it was a separate, unique voice sustained me. It didn't matter to me if what I wrote should be considered bad. Good and bad dropped out of my vocabulary....My life became a work of art. I had found my voice. I was whole again."
Benefits of Poetry Therapy
1. The use of rhythm in poetry can tap into the verbal form of music that can express your original voice.
2. The abstract nature of poetry can better support the expression of painful emotions that might feel too threatening to express directly.
3. Expressive poetry can gradually release the imprints of challenging experiences in a gentle and inspired way.
4. Poetry can reframe difficult emotions by providing leaps, contrasts and surprises through free-form verbal expression.