{"id":36,"date":"2022-05-16T08:11:34","date_gmt":"2022-05-16T08:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/foahbequalitydiversityandinclusion\/?p=36"},"modified":"2022-05-16T08:11:34","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T08:11:34","slug":"poem-for-mental-health-awareness-month-presented-by-russell-evans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/foahbequalitydiversityandinclusion\/2022\/05\/16\/poem-for-mental-health-awareness-month-presented-by-russell-evans\/","title":{"rendered":"Poem for Mental Health Awareness month,<\/strong> presented by Russell Evans.<\/strong><\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Alvarez wrote that \u2018happiness writes white on the page.\u2019 It means that when poets write about positive experiences, about happiness, it fails to make an impression on the reader, perhaps because when we read poetry we are seeking answers to questions we can\u2019t answer ourselves \u2013 such as the ones we get when encountering difficult, challenging times which affect our mental health. Poetry can\u2019t provide answers but it is similar to when we talk things through with someone else — it provides a link to experiences outside our own. If feelings like shame, guilt, sorrow and others thrive in secrecy and shadows, then reading poems about other people who suffer similar things to ourselves and seeing that reflected back to us can only help to shed light on our own feelings and reduce these negative feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew Olzmann is an American poet, born in Detroit, who writes about a range of subjects and does so with humanity and a way of sharing experiences. He now teaches at Dartmouth College, Massachusetts and is the recipient of many awards including the Kundiman Fellowship (2011) and the National Endowment of the Arts (2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Letter to a Bridge Made of Rope By Matthew Olzmann<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t trust you. To the shepherd, herding his flock<\/p>\n\n\n\n

through the gorge below, it must appear as if I walk<\/p>\n\n\n\n

on the sky. I feel like that too: so little between me<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and The Fall. But this is how faith works its craft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One foot set in front of the other, while the wind<\/p>\n\n\n\n

rattles the cage of the living, and the rocks down there<\/p>\n\n\n\n

cheer every wobble, and your threads keep<\/p>\n\n\n\n

this braided business almost intact saying: Don\u2019t worry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been here a long time. You\u2019ll make it across.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Alvarez wrote that \u2018happiness writes white on the page.\u2019 It means that when poets write about positive experiences, about happiness, it fails to make an impression on the reader, perhaps because when we read poetry we are seeking answers to questions we can\u2019t answer ourselves \u2013 such as the ones we get when encountering… Continue reading Poem for Mental Health Awareness month,<\/strong> presented by Russell Evans.<\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/foahbequalitydiversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/foahbequalitydiversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/foahbequalitydiversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/foahbequalitydiversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/foahbequalitydiversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/foahbequalitydiversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/foahbequalitydiversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions\/37"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/foahbequalitydiversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/foahbequalitydiversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/foahbequalitydiversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}