upworthy

art

Art

A 92-yr-old former ballet dancer with dementia wrote this achingly beautiful poem about aging

Poetry can help people with dementia find their voice, and the results are incredible.

"I am still a dancer made of song."

Poetry is an oft-misunderstood, but incredibly powerful art form. Humans have been writing poetry for thousands of years, communicating feelings and ideas in beautiful, powerful ways that prose just can't quite reach. Poetry can be hard to define, but you know it when you see it—or rather, when you feel it.

Emily Dickinson once wrote, “If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.” A poem hits you somewhere—your brain, your heart, your gut. And one poem that packs an incredibly moving punch has come from an unlikely source—an elderly woman with dementia.

elderly woman, dementia, caregiver, poetry, former dancer A woman with dementia wrote a poem with one of her children and it's bringing people to tears. Photo credit: Canva

Poet Joseph Fasano shared a message from a fan who shared that they had brought his book, "The Magic Words: Simple Poetry Prompts That Unlock the Creativity in Everyone," to their mother, a 92-year-old former ballet dancer living with dementia. The mother was excited to write a poem, and they slowly worked through a prompt from the book together aloud.

This poem was the result:

"Let the days be warm

Let the fall be long.

Let every child inside me find her shoes

and dance wildly, softly, toward the world.

I have a story I have never told

Once, when I was small,

I looked up at the sky and saw the wind

and knew I was a dancer made of song.

I am still a dancer made of song."

Wow. What a testament to the power of poetry to reach beyond our usual modes of communication, which dementia so cruelly disrupts. In a few simple lines, we're able to see this woman as she might see herself, as the human living under the veils of age and disease: "I am still a dancer made of song."

Poetry prompts can help people express themselves

The person who shared the poem thanked Fasano for "helping people find their voices," which is exactly what his book of poetry prompts was meant to do.

The Magic Words book by Joseph Fasano, poetry prompts "The Magic Words" is a book of poetry prompts from Joseph Fasano. Amazon


In the book's introduction, Fasano shares that he'd been invited to speak to a class of second graders in New Jersey in 2022 to share "the craft and magic of poetry." As part of his efforts, he came up with a poetry prompt that could "help guide their imaginations" and "unlock the images, thoughts and feelings inside them, without asking them to worry about how to structure a poem." He called the results "astonishing." When he shared one of the students' poems on social media, it and the prompt took off like wildfire, as people who never thought of themselves as poets felt empowered to share their imaginations within that framework.

From 7-year-olds to 92-year-olds, anyone can benefit from the self-expression that poetry facilitates, but many people feel hesitant or intimidated by the idea of writing a poem. Fasano writes, "Poetry is what happens when we let ourselves be," and this idea seems so clear than in the former dancer's poem above. Dementia can create roadblocks, but poetry provides a different avenue of communication.

Caregivers try many different ways to communicate with people living with dementia. Photo credit: Canva

The arts can be a powerful tool for people with dementia

Using poetry to help dementia patients communicate and express themselves isn't just wishful thinking. Studies have demonstrated that cultural arts interventions, including poetry specifically, can be beneficial for people with dementia. In fact, the Alzheimer's Poetry Project (APP) aims to use poetry as a means of improving the quality of life of people living with dementia by facilitating creative expression. "We do not set boundaries in our beliefs in what possible for people with memory impairment to create," the APP website states. "By saying to people with dementia, we value you and your creativity; we are saying we value all members of our community."

Fasano has shared that a team of doctors has begun using his poetry prompts to "give people with dementia a voice again."

Poet Gary Glazner, who founded APP, shared a story with WXPR radio about how he came up with the idea while studying poetry at Sonoma State University:

“I applied for a grant and got a grant to work at an adult care program. The moment I love to share with people is there was a guy in the group, head down, not participating and I said the Longfellow poem. ‘I shot an arrow into the air’ and his eyes popped open and he said, ‘It fell to earth I know not where.’ And suddenly he was with us and participating. It was just this powerful moment to see how poetry could be of use to elders but specifically with people with dementia."

Whether we read it, write it, speak it or hear it, poetry has the power to reach people of all ages in all kinds of mysterious ways.

You can follow Joseph Fasano on Twitter and Instagram, and find his books on Amazon.

This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.

Xing's World/Youtube

Can I go live in Cat Town, please?

We’ve all seen a lot of ingenuity come out of humans who wish to give their feline friends the best life possible—from custom aquariums to Wes Anderson-esque bedrooms to mini hotels. But a kitty subway? Now we’ve seen everything.

Astonishingly, it only took YouTube creator, cat dad, and DIY extraordinaire Xing Zhilei to build an entirely functioning, eerily realistic-looking subway system—complete with a working train, synchronized platform doors, signage with directions to places like “Moonwatch Terrace,” tunnels, and even a miniature escalator. Everything was meticulously designed to give his kitties as much of an authentic city experience as possible…save for maybe the constant train delays.

Watch below as a cat named Mr. Nice and his family set aboard as the subway’s first passengers. It truly feels like something out of a whimsical kid’s book.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Perhaps this amazing build shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. After all, Zhilei has built an entire Cat Town, one that features a Cybertruck, a spa, a supermarket, garage, bank, cinema, billiards hall, theater…just to name a few amenities.



@xings.world #CatTheater ! Thank you to all the new followers! Please enjoy more of my recent projects. #cutecat #kawaii #xingzhilei #xingsworld #可愛いペット #catsubway ♬ original sound - Xing’s World

This feline-centric passion project all began with creating a cat-size condo that offered his fur babies a taste of “luxury” that he never had. Considering that that initial home boasted an elevator that actually goes up and down, a light-up video doorbell, a sink with actual flowing water, and swanky interior decor, we’d say that mission is certainly accomplished.

A lifelong tinkerer, Zhilei still had to learn many new skills to make this one-man dream a reality, from 3D modeling and printing to carpentry, welding, sewing, and painting, not to mention video editing skills in order to share his journey with all of us.

We all know the importance of pet enrichment, which provides a stimulating environment and activities that fulfill an animal's physical, behavioral, and emotional needs. Without it, our pets often aim to quell their anxiety and boredom with destructive behaviors. It goes without saying that Zhilei’s Cat Town takes it to the next level, and 99.9% don’t have the time, skills, resources, or space to accomplish such an impressive feat.

However (and luckily for us all), animals don’t need miniature subways in order to gain enrichment. There’s a whole wide world out there on the interwebs filled with simple, clever ideas. Adding in some cat-friendly greenery, DIY food puzzles, the whole “cat concrete” thing. It's real.

Still, next time we pet owners are getting a bit lazy and tossing a cat toy in a corner, maybe we’ll use these videos as inspiration to kick it up a notch.

To stay abreast of all the latest Cat Town updates, give Zhilei a follow on TikTok and YouTube.

By Scott Kinmartin - CC BY 2.0

Someone challenged Eminem to rhyme "silver," and he crushed the challenge without breaking a sweat.

It started with an innocuous Tweet from a popular account called UberFacts.

"There's no word in English that rhymes with 'silver'" the post read. For long-time English speakers, this isn't exactly news. We've been hearing about random words that seemingly have no rhymes for as long as we've been talking.

A user then decided to call in an expert to confirm whether this was actually true. So, they tagged rapper Marshall Mathers, better known as Eminem, in a post issuing a challenge: "You have 24 hours!" the user joked. If anyone could disprove the so-called fact, it would be him, the wordplay master himself who once rhymed "calm and ready" with "Mom's spaghetti."

eminem, marshall mathers, rap, hip hop, rhymes, english language, rhyming words, rhyme challenge, silver, purple, orange Slim Shady to the rescue. Giphy

Eminem himself responded a day later and completely obliterated the challenge:

"Silver

pilfer

kill fer

Gilbert's

still hurts

steel shirts

Bill Burr

milf word

off kilter

no filter

chill brrrr

feel burn

still slur

will stir

Trent dilfer

Val kilmer

Still third

shield her

he'll squirt

Steven Spielberg

Lil twerp

Wilshire

She'll purr

Kill birds

milk curd

feel worth

Real nerd

Stans documentary I liked your film sir," he wrote in his own post.

If you're familiar with his music, you can almost hear the post in his voice. You can imagine him ripping this off as a verse in one of his songs. You also immediately get the sense that he could have easily kept going, but chose to stop the list there. Point proved.

Oh, sure, you can come up with a list of more words with no rhymes: Purple, month, ninth, opus. Pretty sure Eminem will have no problem tearing the list to shreds.

Eminem's post went viral and was reposted nearly ten thousand times. Thousands of people commented to share their admiration for the hip-hop legend:

"And that's why he's the GOAT" one user wrote.

"He took silver and did a verse of Gold!" another added.

"Eminem can make any word rhyme with any other word," said another.

(Oh, and "pilfer" was right there in front of us this whole time, if you can believe it! Merriam-Webster even chimed in to suggest the little-known "chilver.")

Eminem is known as probably one of the best rappers of all time specifically when it comes to wordplay, rhymes, and clever lyricism.

In a 60 Minutes interview with Anderson Cooper from 2011, Eminem shared a little bit of his approach. Cooper offered up the notion that nothing in English rhymes with "orange," and Eminem was actually almost offended.

"If you're taking the word at face value... nothing is going to rhyme with it exactly," he said, noting that the art is in twisting and contorting words and phrases. Thinking outside the box. Then, off the top of his head, he ripped off a short rhyme:

"I put my orange four-inch door hinge in storage and ate porridge with George."

Cooper asks him if he walks around all day thinking about rhyming words. "Yeah. All day. I actually drive myself insane with it," Eminem said.

A young Marshall Mathers would read the dictionary even though he wasn't a "good student" academically. "I just thought, I want to have all these words at my disposal, in my vocabulary, at all times, whenever I need to pull them out."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Why are we so fascinated with a good rhyme?

You have to admit that reading or listening to Eminem's creative rhymes for "orange" and "silver" is oddly satisfying.

That's because rhymes, or even just rhythmic poetry, does something different to our brain than other forms of speech or prose.

"The brain's reaction to poetry indicates a deep, intuitive connection to verse, suggesting that appreciation of poetry is within our neurological structure," according to How Stuff Works.

We also perceive things that rhyme as 22% more true than statements that don't, which is why so many slogans and catchphrases utilize rhyming words. That also plays a big role in why music and song are so emotionally powerful, even when the lyrics are relatively simple.

Finally, it's really pleasing to our brains when we're able to predict words and identify patterns. That's a lot easier and more fun to do in rhyming forms like rap, song, and poetry versus prose and regular speech.

It's awesome to see an artist and master at work in Eminem's post and interview. It should inspire you to think outside the box and remember that, whenever someone tells you that something is impossible, the real art is in proving them wrong.

A magician performs a trick. A person is painted in glow-paint.

It's become pretty cheesy to utter things like, "There's magic everywhere," (especially if you creepily whisper it.) However, if you happen to be lucky enough to visit magician Justin Flom's home, it's literally true. Every single square foot of his home seems to be magical, which is pretty fortunate for his young kids. Truly, their dad's imagination knows no bounds.

A few months back, Upworthy's Heather Wake covered the "wildest house tour" ever, wherein we see Flom's fever dream of a home in a video presented by his wife. Wake describes "the toilet paper wall in the bathroom (cause why not?), a 'cozy' loft made of netting above the stairs for the kids, and a 'Dr. Pepper passageway' that leads to a hidden door in the wallpaper that opens to their Blockbuster-fied movie room."

The house has become a recent viral sensation again, as Flom's sister has now made her own personal video from her point of view. She seems especially dazzled by the disco room, the hidden door INSIDE the foam pit, and yes, the glow-in-the-dark room.


In pushing the boundaries of whimsy, Flom recently shared a new clip on TikTok where we see him pouring what looks like oxidized phosphorous into a painting tray. When applied to the wall, the green, glowing paint makes it look as if he's created his very own Aurora Borealis within the walls of his home. In a voiceover, Flom shares, "This room glows in the dark and you can leave your shadow on the wall."

We then see Flom's daughters helping create the, ahem, magic. He continues, "The glow-on-paint goes on clear and I give my daughters special flashlights so they can draw on the wall…with light."

@justinflom

Their shadows stay on the wall! 💡🔦

As if that wasn't cool enough, he says, "It's done, and I'm showing you right now, the glow room, hidden behind our tunnel of doors." We then see five different doors being opened, including a red door, what looks like a Cookie Monster door, a brick wall door, and a final door that resembles the spiral of a safe. Once inside, he says to the girls, "Doesn't look like anything, right? The wall looks normal, doesn't it? But wait. Ready?"

They nod. "On the count of three, we're gonna turn out the lights and this room is gonna glow. You ready for it? Three. Two. One…!" Flom turns out the lights, and, as promised, the walls glow in a bright Oz-like green. What happens next is like scenes from a Pixar film or perhaps Wicked: When they press their bodies against the green wall, they make a shadow that remains as though it has been painted on by the finest artist. Then, on top of their OWN shadows, they can create whatever they'd like using plain old lights as their brushes.

Once one gets over the absolute awe of it all, it's hard not to wonder…how was this possible? We turn to the comment section, which first showers Flom with compliments. One person writes, "I want to do this with my adult money." Another, "The childhood I wished I'd had."

green phosphorous, green glow, glowing, lights A gif of the Northern Lights Giphy, Yatri design

Just a tiny scroll down, and a TikToker seems to have found the paint. "Is it the Risk Reactor glow paint?" Though they note it's expensive ($400), many agree it's worth it. Someone asks, "How do they get the shadow off the wall?" Another responds, "You cover the area, shine a light, and the bit that's covered doesn't glow."

Luckily, there is a cute, wacky video on YouTube that gives us an actual step-by-step on making your own glow wall, should you want one. YouTuber UV Black Lights uses what he calls a "blinds thing" type surface and illustrates that first you want to "clean the surface" really well. Then, using "glow in the dark phosphorescent paint," he shares, "All you have to do is just paint."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

For this tutorial, he demonstrates that he's using the Wildfire paint brand and recommends two or three coats over a primer (if one has the patience). We then get a chyron AND a voiceover exclaiming "three hours later," followed by a shot of the surface hung up, "all dried and ready to go."

Once the sun goes down (since he's presenting this experiment in his garage), he explains, "So what we're using here is just a little laser. It doesn't need to be black light. All you have to do is have some kind of light source." (Remember, Flom used tiny flashlights.)

He then shows off shadow art, similar to Flom's earlier video. Beautiful, majestic, and best of all? Doable!