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What makes poetry poetry? There are certain technical elements that a poem might include, like rhyme and meter, but plenty of poetry doesn't follow any structural rules.

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

Poet Joseph Fasano shared a message from a fan who shared that they used one of Fasano's poetry prompts with 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 the prompt 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 in ways they otherwise couldn't

The person who shared the poem thanked Fasano for "helping people find their voices," which is exactly what his book of poetry prompts, "The Magic Words: Simple Poetry Prompts That Unlock the Creativity in Everyone," was meant to do.

"The Magic Words" is a book of poetry prompts from Joseph Fasano. assets.rebelmouse.io

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 in the former dancer's poem above. Dementia can create roadblocks, but poetry provides a different avenue of communication.

People with dementia are still themselves deep down. 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."

Poet Gary Glazner founded APP and 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."

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

Another initiative, Arts 4 Dementia, does poetry workshops with people in early stages of dementia.

"'Poetry allows freedom of expression and can add warmth and depth to what may start as prose," Arts 4 Dementia CEO Nigel Franklin told the Alzheimer's Society. "Through poetry, participants access certain images or memories from their lives, and build these fragments together. Older people living with dementia often learnt poems off by heart as a child, and many of these poems are still accessible. Our participants have early-stage dementia, so while short-term memory may be diminished, many skills can be retained. They are welcome to read poetry (at their own pace) or ask their companion to read and perhaps write what they have created. We give participants time to answer—we don't answer for them—and above all, we show respect and we're never patronising."

Whether we read it, write it, speak it, or hear it, poetry has the power to reach people of all ages and stages of life 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 two years ago and has been updated.