The Healing Power of Poetry

- This collection of poems comes to publication just when we're seeing a surge in Covid-19 cases also in countries that had implemented lockdown policies: countries that believed themselves to be in calm waters, having managed to reduce the spread of the virus for one month or more. Such new spikes in case numbers show how fragile the post-lockdown situation can be -and how fragile human societies are. FF] - Poetry seems too distant and idealistic in its own world to help people recover from pneumonia, PTSD, or systemic poverty. Nevertheless, when struggle on the material is not realized, that on the soul seeks poetry's caress. Poetry has long been regarded as a form of healing medicine. Ultimately, by reading the anthology, we might see poetry not as a tool to "get rid of" our traumatic past, but as a guide to let us confront what hides behind trauma and make peace with it. So when we speak of the healing power of poetry, we are really calling forth our self-healing mechanism, both in our bodies and in our societies. H.T.]