I’ve been spending some time this Sunday morning with a poetry website I heard about on NPR, the Favorite Poem Project. The website includes a selection of videos of people reading and talking about their favorite poems. It’s these videos that I’ve been watching for the last half hour or so.Â
Watching videos of everyday people reading their favorite poems reminds me, in some ways, of what it’s like to sit with clients and listen to their stories. These people are speaking directly from their hearts, sharing why their selected poem resonates with them. The context of the poem creates a way for these people, strangers, to let us into their worlds and get a glimpse of what’s meaningful and important to them.
It’s projects and websites like this that remind me of all the great things about the Internet and ways we can use it to reach out to and connect with each other.
By the way, my current favorite poem is Next Time, by William Stafford. I especially like the final line of the poem. (You can find this poem in his collection The Way It Is.)