This post was written by NCTE member Denise Krebs, reprinted with permission from her blog.

On Friday, I received an email from NCTE with the session information for “Words That Mend: Finding Heart, Hope, and Humanity within the Healing Power of Poetry.” This session will be on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. in room 210A. There are ten of us who created the proposal; five to seven of us will be able to go to Boston to lead the session. Writing poetry with teachers, many of whom are tired and overwhelmed by the stress and busyness of life and work, is empowering and healing for all. Being in Boston will be a dream fulfilled. I’ve never been, so I look forward to the Children’s Museum, and, as a former eighth-grade American history teacher, I have to see some of the historical sites before I leave Boston.

Last year, I got to attend #NCTE23 in Columbus. It was a chance to spend real time with colleagues and friends from around the country. To learn, laugh, plan, and play with these old friends (and new ones, too). To network with others about work I’m doing in my community. To be surprised by joy, like in Tom Hanks’ fun speech where he typed a message on his collectible typewriter he donated to NCTE. To learn and reflect on the learning, often by writing poetry.

Do you ever write poetry in response to learning and life experiences, both painful and joyful? I have been doing this for the last few years. I find it both healing and empowering. Here’s a poem I wrote after meeting a new friend at the last NCTE Convention.

Kaleidoscopic Encounter
I met someone yesterday.
We engaged in
conversation
standing in the exhibit hall.
She’s come here from a
South American country
Where she fled to the US
as a refugee.
Her grandfather came there as
A refugee fleeing the Holocaust.
Her name came together,
a perfectly delightful mix of
Spanish, Arabic, and Jewish.
She is a kaleidoscope of
color and light and generosity,
And I am better for having met her.

I’ve come here from
a white-washed history,
a white-washed lineage,
and so much loss of
color and light and generosity.
I’ve come from who knows where,
Except the generic ‘Wales,’
as a child, it was all I was given
when I asked, evidence enough
that we were in the right pot,
melting into America.
I came from who knows when–
not in this century,
or the last,
maybe the one before.

We are all losers
in the myth of white supremacy.
We are not a melting pot,
We are a kaleidoscope.
We will all win, when
We all belong.

Do you also write poetry to help you process and heal? With students? Or in community? Would you like to share a little slice of your writing poetry life in a book we are writing? The book Words That Mend will be available in September free in a PDF with a Creative Commons license.

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