Archive for the ‘Poetry’ Category

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We have alot of men residents at our facility. They love baking sweets. We were baking brownies today. One gentleman, with the use of only one arm, was grasping the knife and spreading the gooey rich chocolate batter all over the bottom of the pan. “Chocolate is sexy,” he said with a charming smile. I laughed and put the pan in the oven. I had an idea. “While the Brownies are baking, let’s write a poem about Brownies and we can start with Scott’s statement for the first line.” Each one added words. I made sure that the beginning of each rhyming couplet had a word at the end that was easy to rhyme with. Here is what they came up with:

Chocolate is sexy, Scotty said
It’s even better than raisin bread.
It’s pure unadulterated batter
Eating it makes us happier
It makes our lives so very sweet
Gooey brownies are quite a treat
They make us very mean and smart
The beat goes on for us old farts.

There once was a lady named Myrtle.                                                                                                           

She was wearing a very tight girdle.

She took it right off

So she could play golf

 And then jump over a hurdle.

This is the most recent of many limericks that we have written in Alzheimer’s units.  We begin with a sentence usually “There once was…..”  and then we come up with a word or a name that that has plenty of rhyming words.  Then we make a list of rhyming words and then they come up with sentences.  As a facilitator, I put my guidance in as needed.  The sentences and the rhyming in this poem was all theirs.  It brings alot of laughs and comeraderie as they work in a group to put it together, kind of like a puzzle.

It was time for a “holiday tea” for the “Advanced Stage Alzheimer’s Unit”. We set the table with a colorful table cloth and special dishes. Each one had a special place. My artist friend and I talked naturally about many Christmas memories, as we watched quickened glances, and even a few sparse comments. We do not always know what is understood or heard. As we finished our tea we wrote limericks.

There once was a lady named Jane
Who walked outside in the rain
It started to snow
And the wind did blow
So she went in the house again

Our limericks were configured by the artists in healthcare who were present. Those with Alzheimer’s were very engaged in hearing the rhythms and helping with the rhyming.

Artist Jan picked up some crackling leaves on her way into the Alzheimer’s unit and put them in a baggie along with some extra air.
We passed them around, crunching on them with our hands and stepping on them with our feet. This led to using it as a shaker to shake to the rhythm of Fall poetry that we dreamed up.

The leaves were flying all around
Red, and yellow, orange and brown
Stepping on them making sounds
Crunching sounds all over the ground

I was sitting with 2 residents in an Alzheimer’s Unit.
“Let’s write a haiku poem. Look out the window at all the snow. What do you think of the snow? How does it make you feel? What does it remind you of?”
I received feedback: Ice cream, cold, have to wear a coat, kinda wet, falling ice, snowball, winter, dead.
“What would you compare it to?”
My sister sleeping.
“Is the snow sleeping?”
Yes
It also has energy
“For what?”
To make the grass grow in the spring.

I began writing their words in the 5 syllables, then 7 syllables, then 5 syllables. Here is our Haiku poem.
Peaceful snow sleeping
Watering seeds for Spring
Waiting for flowers.
We got the paints out and painted flowers coming out of the snow.