tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34379363889912217362024-03-05T19:21:21.439-08:00Alzheimer's Poetry Project<b>This blog will be a place to post poetry written by people living with Alzheimer's disease. We will focus on poetry that is created as part of the Alzheimer's Poetry Project. We will post information and news about dementia.
We hope this blog is of use to the family members who have a loved one with dementia.</b>Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comBlogger120125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-25107796313929755692023-12-17T22:38:00.000-08:002023-12-17T22:39:36.717-08:00Arts and Health Publication<p> Thrilled to announce our publication in the Dec. 2023 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Arts and Health our paper <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/NBGITST8GYYDVYVWTQRU/full?target=10.1080%2F17533015.2023.2283530"><strong><em>Dementia Arts Mapping: observational methods for documenting impacts of poetry and recreation in care settings </em></strong></a></p>Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-12414132978794439872020-04-02T10:28:00.000-07:002020-04-02T10:37:08.142-07:00APP Coronavirus Response <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Poetry for Life!</b><br />
Do you know any kids or elders or cats or anyone really, stuck in the safety of their home? Please join poet Gary Glazner at 10:30am EDT each day, Monday through Friday, through April 10th<br />
Call (339) 209-6482<br />
Poetry for Life is a 15-minute long show that sounds like an old-fashioned radio show. Suitable for all ages! Funny Poems! Happy Poems! Poems that make you want to Dance. Love Poems! Silly Poems! Won’t you listen in and take a chance?<br />
Contact poet Gary Glazner for more info at: garyglaznerpoet@gmail.com<br />
Depending on the length of the PAUSE Quarantine and level of interest we may extend programing beyond the end date of April 10th.</div>
Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-53108087681675168292019-08-13T06:25:00.001-07:002019-08-13T06:25:28.778-07:00I carry this luggage with me<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I carry this luggage with me<br />
- Norbert Góra<br />
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On the way from life<br />
to death,<br />
I carry this luggage<br />
with me,<br />
it gets heavier<br />
with each passing year,<br />
even short moments<br />
want to put something in it.<br />
<br />
I have children’s tears<br />
packed there,<br />
sleepless nights interrupted by<br />
silent sobbing,<br />
I have all the loves<br />
that have gone away somewhere,<br />
a bear and a bull market,<br />
knowing that it was hard.<br />
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This luggage<br />
is memories,<br />
added to life for free,<br />
<br />
sometimes they are like<br />
outstretched wings,<br />
sometimes they resemble<br />
a ball at our feet.<br />
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I’m going ahead,<br />
the next episode of my life,<br />
I carry this luggage with me<br />
to feel the magic of memories<br />
again.<br />
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This poem comes to us from Poland.<br />
The poet is Norbert Góra,<br />
a former care assistant.<br />
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Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-41489252880534768942019-03-17T13:24:00.000-07:002019-03-17T15:11:12.024-07:00Gingivalis and Alzheimer's Disease<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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One of the highlights of working on the APP is the people you get to work with. With all the dozens, if not hundreds of people, I have had the pleasure of working with, the only mother and daughter team we have had is Cari Griffo (to the far left in orange) and Willa Edwards (in the front in blue). Here they are with a group of poets in Albuquerque performing as a poetry chorus.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKxz9cS22IoOVNh7a7JqdrwpWLKXK-QxUXePUzsGu6SZUwl1YY3hJrPBBQNLF86mqBsmhXh2VoxmglKACQ7qTYEtHtFkuEkTHeuI9BuxyKA4vMpnzlOnPKZnIedZ0C1QkQN7XJnQOtci4/s1600/CarinWilla.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKxz9cS22IoOVNh7a7JqdrwpWLKXK-QxUXePUzsGu6SZUwl1YY3hJrPBBQNLF86mqBsmhXh2VoxmglKACQ7qTYEtHtFkuEkTHeuI9BuxyKA4vMpnzlOnPKZnIedZ0C1QkQN7XJnQOtci4/s320/CarinWilla.jpg" width="320" height="174" data-original-width="1222" data-original-height="666" /></a>
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Also, pictured is Willa's dad and Cari's husband the artist Trent Edwards (to the far left). I know these long term friends not only through poetry and art, but Cari was also for many years my dental hygienist.
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She has recently written and interesting essay on the connect between Gingivalis and Alzheimer's disease. The piece included a great story about Cari and Willa's time working with the APP.
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Here is a link to her wonderful new blog <a href="https://askmyhygienist.com/new-study-gingivitis-causes-alzheimers/">"Ask My Hygienist"</a>
Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-46206471211173195572018-12-16T05:38:00.000-08:002018-12-16T05:48:45.187-08:00JAMA Article<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The paper is a call for further research and ends with, “Reciting poetry is unlikely to change the progression of dementia, but it can help change the narrative of how unaffected individuals and society perceive dementia. Changing that narrative to include examples of creativity and moments of joy, and the tantalizing possibility that it can positively affect the consolidation of new short-term memories into long-term memories, alters the perception of dementia from an experience defined by isolation and lost personhood to one of social vitality and enduring personhood. This shift may help combat the stigma of memory loss and promote more humane and effective care environments and therapeutic strategies for working with these patients.
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Here is a link to the <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2718041?alert=article&fbclid=IwAR328UG6eYCa0DjqSXDuahaStckdde8c2V2V7tLX2nF4Em-ynT6HhMBZEcY"><b>JAMA essay</b></a>Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-66363030401495715552018-03-20T09:17:00.003-07:002018-03-20T09:27:35.561-07:00Arts in Medicine<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Creativity in Elder Care</b><br />
Training Medical Students in the Use of Creative Expression to Improve Elder Care<br />
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"The poem springs from the half-spoken words of such patients as the physician sees from day to day… This, in the end, comes perhaps to be the occupation of the physician after a lifetime of careful listening."</i> -William Carlos Williams<br />
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We are excited to announce that in July 2016, we launched the The Art and Medicine Program at the University Of Arizona College Of Medicine – Phoenix and the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project (APP), based in Brooklyn, New York, provided a series of participatory arts training workshops for medical students to use creativity with elder patients. We developed a medical student curriculum entitled, “Creativity in Elder Care,” for the Art in Medicine program. The program is now in its third year.
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The workshops were co-taught by Gary Glazner, founder and Executive Director of the APP, and Cynthia A. Standley, PhD, professor in the Department of Bioethics and Medical Humanism at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix.
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Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-43309839768040854522017-01-09T14:50:00.001-08:002017-01-09T15:17:55.608-08:00AUTUMN IN LA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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AUTUMN IN LA
<p>
Autumn in LA doesn’t make sense,<br>
shouldn’t even be a song.<br>
I wouldn’t even give it a second thought<br>
It starts on Christmas day<br>
You know what I mean. I’d be a fool to run there.<br>
Autumn in Brooklyn, leaves falling. They do.<br>
Autumn in Vermont, a slight mist,<br>
tramping through the forest<br>
Autumn in LA sounds like fun and laughter<br>
A cacophony of horns on the 405<br>
Doesn’t sound different than any other month<br>
Smells like smog
The kids go off to school. And we’re free!<br>
The leaves change colors in autumn<br>
in New York, weather cooling down<br>
We don’t have that here<br>
But the coloring of my liquidambar trees<br>
And there’s a fragrance to it. Autumn.<br>
There’s a street that has a tunnel of trees<br>
They all turn, it’s a very pretty street<br>
Nobody can afford to live on it<br>
but it’s a very pretty street<br>
<p>
Autumn in New York makes sense.<br>
Autumn in LA doesn’t make sense. <br>
<p>
Created by poet Sarah Jacobus, with the poets at OPICA. Sarah writes about the process, "I chose an autumn theme for today, despite the fact that it’s over 90 degrees here. I gave each participant a little pumpkin to hold, feel, smell. We did call and response with the first verse of James Whitcomb Riley’s The Frost is on the Punkin and made some vigorous kyoucks and gobbles and clucks. A woman in the group started humming Turkey in the Straw, and we realized we could sing the poem to that tune. So we did. Then we listened to Sarah Vaughan’s arrangement of Autumn in New York and talked about songs as poems."Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-14676375071561845162016-07-06T10:59:00.001-07:002016-07-06T11:01:08.879-07:00RIP Pat Summitt<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3_FOUAfCW3PTh5q9S8trc9g16VyX7F-tB78s-foCL8RU5jsImEoFVB7DT9F6l1odgETq8GMl2l8y_qpEDTkNWsS6VsvNXAFcLX0YOM9MbIjrcepJ9_8_ADTzwNvYhzFAjtZPflirUhyphenhyphenE/s1600/APTOPIX_Obit_Pat_Summitt_Basketball-0ffa7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3_FOUAfCW3PTh5q9S8trc9g16VyX7F-tB78s-foCL8RU5jsImEoFVB7DT9F6l1odgETq8GMl2l8y_qpEDTkNWsS6VsvNXAFcLX0YOM9MbIjrcepJ9_8_ADTzwNvYhzFAjtZPflirUhyphenhyphenE/s320/APTOPIX_Obit_Pat_Summitt_Basketball-0ffa7.jpg" width="320" height="213" /></a></div>She was the winningest coach in basketball history. A few years ago she was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/phil-jackson-pat-summitt-mary-karr-and-a-special-triangular-connection/2016/01/01/5d7127f4-b02d-11e5-9ab0-884d1cc4b33e_story.html">Here is a story by her good friend and writer Sally Jenkins on using poetry with Pat. </a>
<p>
Jenkins gets the idea from an unnamed Alzheimer’s guide that suggests using poetry with people living with memory loss and the Longfellow poem that opens, “I shot an arrow into the air.” That is my story and the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project is the unnamed guide. Jenkins writes, “After she was forced to retire, reading to her became harder as the disease progressed. One afternoon I followed the advice in the Alzheimer’s guide and tried a short poem. I read about Longfellow’s arrow, streaking through the air and coming down he knew not where, ‘For who has sight so keen and strong that it can follow the flight of song.’”
<p>
Jenkins goes on to use Mary Karr’s amazing poem, “Loony Bin Basketball.” That I had any small part in these two friends connecting through poetry is an honor.
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Much love to the family, friends and fans of Coach Summitt. Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-60735111979004749462016-05-11T09:38:00.001-07:002016-05-11T09:39:34.473-07:00Nurses Day <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Nurses Day</b><br>
<i>(By the Avalon Poets on 5/6/16 with past Poet Laureate of Madison, Fabu Carter)</i>
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I still am a nurse. Once a nurse, always a nurse.<br>
I have such a pain in my neck. I need a nurse.<br>
Nurses are kind; helping people recover from whatever is bothering them.<br>
Nurses are very nice people to work with.<br>
I love nurses.<br>
Nurses are for us. They look after us.<br>
I enjoyed teaching, but nursing is something else.<br>
The noble profession of nurses.<br>
I’m happy its National Nurses Month, week and day.<br>
I’d like to be a nurse.<br>
I always wanted to be a nurse and have someone call “Nurse, Nurse!”<br>Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-9162223029828932522016-03-08T14:20:00.002-08:002016-03-08T14:22:17.260-08:00Imagine That- Sarah Jacobus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<p>
One of the pleasures of running the Alzheimer's Poetry Project (APP)<br>
is the people you meet.<br>
Sarah Jacobus has been taking the the APP on-line training<br>
and it is true delight to see how she is shaping the APP to her own voice and vision.<br>
<p>
In addition, Jacobus has been certified in the storytelling project, "TimeSlips,"<br>
and is taking an improv class!<br>
<p>
The poems she has been creating with her groups in Los Angeles are full of strong images.
<p>
This is a photo Sarah took of a budding peach tree in her backyard.<br>
She brought clipping from the tree to share with and inspire her group.<br>
She asked a series of questions around the theme of trees<br>
and the group's answers became the lines of the poem.
<p>
I can't wait to see what her and her poets come up with next.<br>
It is an honor to share their poem with you.
<p>
<b>I AM A TREE</b><br>
<p>
<i>(The poem “I Am a Tree,” inspired by the Joyce Kilmer poem “Trees,”<br>
was created with Sarah Jacobus by the poets at OPICA,<br>
a Los Angeles adult day program and counseling center for people with memory loss.)<br></i>
<p>
I have a strong central bark<br>
and branches with flowers at the end<br>
I am mostly green<br>
a little brown at the tips<br>
but mostly green, that’s for sure<br>
I am brown, solid and gray<br>
with little touches of red and blue<br>
Fragrance clean<br>
I smell like sweet apple<br>
I shade myself from being frightened<br>
<p>
Refreshing, I smell the air in the neighborhood<br>
It keeps me from thinking of bad things<br>
Refreshing, and raring to go explore the area<br>
maybe a deer, or a small squirrel there<br>
a brook with stones that are smooth<br>
smooth<br>
They make a person feel real good about life.<br>
<p>
We had an elm tree in the backyard<br>
There was another tree like it <br>
3,000 miles away in Connecticut<br>
It had the same fragrance<br>
I could jump back and forth between them<br>
<p>
I sit at the top of a windy hill and feel<br>
nostalgic about an old memory<br>
I’m a tree that hides me from the world <br>
and lets me think about<br>
who I am<br>
who I want to be<br>
What a memory<br>
<p>
Sarah Jacobus, LCSW, MFA, is a Los Angeles social worker with a Master of Fine Arts Degree in creative writing. She is committed to creative engagement for elders with memory loss as a tool for meaningful self-expression, community building and fun. Trained and certified by APP founder Gary Glazner, she is currently bringing the APP method to senior centers, care communities and individuals in Los Angeles County
<p>Learn more about Sarah’s work at <a href="http://www.imaginethat.la ">www.imaginethat.la</a>
Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-91403316981239060082016-02-19T06:52:00.000-08:002016-02-19T07:11:41.104-08:00APP on Wisconsin Public Radio<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Fabu Carter on Wisconsin Public Radio on the APP and how dementia effects the African American community. Fabu leads the APP in Wisconsin and works at the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. Such an honor to get to work with her.
<p>
Please give the show a listen:<a href="http://www.wpr.org/poetry-and-alzheimers">Poetry And Alzheimer's</a>
<p>
The Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center is a unique program combining academic, clinical, and research expertise from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and the Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC) of the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin.
<p>
<b>For Our Elders With Memory Loss</b><br>
by Fabu Carter<br>
(<i>From Dementia Arts: Celebrating Creative in Elder Care</i>)
<p>
Some call you seniors<br>
I call you wise elders<br>
Living long and learning much.<br>
<p>
You should be honored<br>
Your grey hair a symbol<br>
Of victory and authority in life.<br>
<p>
When your memory flees or hides<br>
And every face seem strange<br>
Remember the other signs of love.<br>
<p>
The gentle touch, the kind voice<br>
The spirit that welcomes you<br>
Just as you are.<br>
<p>
Reassure yourselves<br>
That you know how love feels<br>
For it will chase the fear of forgetting<br>
away.<br>
Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-29656535481946141862016-01-31T11:09:00.001-08:002016-01-31T14:35:05.728-08:00Rhythm of PoetryRhythm is essential in performing and creating poetry with people living with memory loss. We often chant the poems using, "call and response," to engage the group. In this case "call and response," is where the session leaders says a line of poetry and has the group echo or repeat the line.
<p>
The NPR piece below, "How Rhythm Carries A Poem, From Head To Heart," gives a wonderful description of the importance of rhythm in poetry. The poet Edward Hirsch says, "Spoken-word poetry brings back that ancient feeling of poetry as performance and poetry as contest; and poetry as spoken, chanted, sung."
<p>
My background as a performance poet and my involvement with the Poetry Slam informs and guides my work as the founder of the Alzheimer's Poetry Project (APP). I trace many of the techniques and methods of the APP to lessons I learned in how to engage the audience as a performance poet. That ancient sense of poetry as performance is at the core of the APP.
<p>
One of the reasons "call and response," works so well with people living with memory loss, is that it taps into what neurologists call, auditory sense or echoic memory. In the book "Nueroscience," temporal categories of memory are defined in three classes:<br>
1. Immediate memory<br>
2. Working memory<br>
3. Long-term memory<br>
<p>
The book states, "The capacity of immediate memory is very large, each sensory modality, (visual, auditory, tactile and so on) appears to have its own semi-independent "memory register." Accessing immediate memory through the auditory sensory modality, we are able to engage in the performance of poetry. We find a high degree of success in asking them to repeat back words they have just heard and the rhythm along with rhyme help to facilitate the recitation.
<p>
Here is a joyful and playful example of "call and response," using lines from the EE Cumming poem, "I Carry Your Heart."
<p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KioP05BVwEA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p>
<iframe src="http://www.npr.org/player/embed/323329319/323844644" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"></iframe>
Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-84441678078801607542016-01-17T18:05:00.000-08:002016-01-17T18:22:47.783-08:00Found+Art=Found+Poetry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE77SkXqdYDxWjN3LRfm2dOS58Nj0deN8DYdr6CQ7BKauyFeyWq0MUvBcV-_gTbO9pzxzRXlfd6MXbCiw4Jug9_inY-3kmTEBC1cJC-tkt8ngXMar7Pm94Jd0swoxibFH9iaU4eOzkXsY/s1600/bullsmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE77SkXqdYDxWjN3LRfm2dOS58Nj0deN8DYdr6CQ7BKauyFeyWq0MUvBcV-_gTbO9pzxzRXlfd6MXbCiw4Jug9_inY-3kmTEBC1cJC-tkt8ngXMar7Pm94Jd0swoxibFH9iaU4eOzkXsY/s200/bullsmall.jpg" /></a></div>
I recently visited the <a href="http://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1505">Picasso Sculpture </a> exhibit at MoMA, that the NY Times calls “a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition that brings together more than 100 Picasso works, including many never seen in the United States."
<p>
Seeing the way he used found objects to create a number of the sculptures, made me think that how we create poems in the Alzheimer's Poetry Project (APP) could be described as "Found Poetry."
<p>
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/18/arts/design/picasso-sculpture.html">Here is a guide to the exhibit that gives examples of how Picasso used found objects.</a>
<p>
Wikipedia defines, "Found poetry as a type of poetry created by taking words, phrases, and sometimes whole passages from other sources and reframing them as poetry (a literary equivalent of a collage) by making changes in spacing and lines, or by adding or deleting text, thus imparting new meaning."
<p>
The main technique we use with APP to create poems is by asking open-ended questions around a theme. For example at the John Michael Kohler Art Center in Wisconsin with a group from the Gathering Place, we created the poem "Ocean." The poem was inspired by Tristin Lowe's artwork of a life-sized whale, "Mocha Dick." We asked what the ocean would smell, taste, look, sound, and feel like. We imagined encounters with whales. We wrote down all the comments from the group, taking care to transcribe as close to the actual words as possible and then we shaped that text into a poem.
<p>
We started the session by performing: "Catch a Little Rhyme," by Eve Merriam; "Whopper!" by Jack Prelutsky; "The Whale," by Hilaire Belloc and sections of "The World below the Brine," by Walt Whitman; and "Moby Dick," by Herman Melville. These poems also helped to inspire our original poem.
<p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q4vFly6NuGQ?list=PL0F12386FB9D82D9F" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p>
When we perform the newly created poem with it's "found" text we use a "call and response," technique to perform the poem with the group and improvise, thinking of the lines in a similar way to how jazz musicians interpret a melody, changing among other elements, the tone, rhythm, and speed of the recitation. We are always being open to the group adding new lines, as you see at the end of the poem, with the improvisation on whale, pail and ale.
<p>
Another artist we draw inspiration from is Robert Rauschenberg’s work with <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/28/arts/design/moma-gains-treasure-that-metropolitan-museum-of-art-also-coveted.html">Combines.</a> This mixing of media and breaking down of boundaries between painting and sculpture also guides our work in partnering with assisted living, adult day care, senior centers and cultural organizations including museums, to provide programming for their clients, we have a group of ready, willing and able people who respond strongly to the opportunity to express their creativity, with the goal of giving voice to people living with memory loss.
<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI5cWeATc5IZjV-y4VGEmRb8m3AOmtoK47LFKw2rQV0HZc_692U8ISxsVrBwHeOMBgsm2h9zFhD5PQlTkrAD5-CXm-o9xaQ6MSfebtiOq_EwJQBvEW-ERKHFPmrU9zBEg_Aet5Hks7a2A/s1600/birdsmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI5cWeATc5IZjV-y4VGEmRb8m3AOmtoK47LFKw2rQV0HZc_692U8ISxsVrBwHeOMBgsm2h9zFhD5PQlTkrAD5-CXm-o9xaQ6MSfebtiOq_EwJQBvEW-ERKHFPmrU9zBEg_Aet5Hks7a2A/s200/birdsmall.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
Mocha Dick, which appears in the video courtesy of the artist in collaboration with the Fabric Workshop, The West Collection, and Fleisher/Ollman Gallery, PA and John Michael Kohler Art Center. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mocha_Dick">Mocha Dick is the real life whale that Melville based "Moby Dick," on.</a>
<p>
Special thanks to Margaret Groff, Education Program Manager at JMKAC and Cindy Musial, past Director at The Gathering Place for setting up the workshop.Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-35528617982278414062015-12-16T12:25:00.001-08:002015-12-16T12:30:24.233-08:00MEMORIES by Anne Keane<b>MEMORIES</b><br>
<p>
It was a year ago,<br>
or was it two,<br>
that she first realized she forgot,<br>
to remember:<br>
Remember to remember,<br>
she was going<br>
to lose<br>
weight<br>
Fine<br>
thinking<br>
as the first.<br>
<p>
shortly ago then<br>
She can't remember.<br>
<p>
It is her nightly medicine<br>
or is it the month.<br>
Did she ask you? Or forget to ask, did you<br>
Answer or not<br>
it is no longer always clear,<br>
Though it seems not important to hold<br>
On to forgetting<br>
To remember<br>
at times the sky blue and the clarity,<br>
in a moment.<br>Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-63468667888402379102015-07-27T03:10:00.000-07:002015-07-27T06:56:32.952-07:00RIP Richard Taylor...Hello My Name is Richard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqezJCMPvr4tIWvhJZxHRPypN3yYKbIGPlJ37TYew-AF85OohCFNLfq1ULR2IQLudH_Qwuo7_Nw0mXetIBLDVXOGBmKkbrNWrDppAgXqB5LJEn7jSgEdTBo6tMQeJX4kgv42GFNhGNGgc/s1600/GaryRIchardsmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqezJCMPvr4tIWvhJZxHRPypN3yYKbIGPlJ37TYew-AF85OohCFNLfq1ULR2IQLudH_Qwuo7_Nw0mXetIBLDVXOGBmKkbrNWrDppAgXqB5LJEn7jSgEdTBo6tMQeJX4kgv42GFNhGNGgc/s400/GaryRIchardsmall.jpg" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Like so many people I considered Dr. Richard Taylor a friend. Richard died on June 25th, 2015. He was the most passionate and outspoken advocate
for people living with memory loss. This treasured photo was taken after he testified at the Dementia Arts on Capitol Hill. The project included an exhibit of people living with memory loss participating in the arts in the The Russell Senate Office Building and a panel briefing, which was sponsored by Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico.
<p>
The speakers in addition to Richard and the Senator among others included: Rocco Landesman, Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts; the Guest Poet, Stuart Hall who read poems about living with memory loss; Sunil Iyengar, Director of Research and Analysis, National Endowment for the Arts; Dr. Anne Basting, Executive Director, Center on Age & Community and founder, TimeSlips; Maria Genné, founder, KAIROS ALIVE! and Margery Pabst, Executive Director, Pabst Charitable Foundation for the Arts and author of “Enrich Your Caregiving Journey."
<p>
All of them were well spoken and articulate about memory loss and care-giving but it was Richard who brought the issue to life and who
made the standing room crowd of Senate staffers and the public laugh and cry. So many of the people who attended the panel briefing on the state
of Dementia Arts Research came up after the event and talked about how moving Richard's talk was.
<p>
I first met Richard at an Alzheimer's Foundation of America Conference in Dallas in 2006. It was the first time I had attended a conference on Alzheimer's where a person living with memory loss had spoken at the conference. Richard always pushed for including that voice. When I began organizing Dementia Arts on Capitol Hill, it was my great hope he would be able to attend and I organized the event around him.
<p>
When I first contacted Richard about speaking at the event, he knew I would need sponsors and he said, "Are you sure you want me? You know I can be considered quite controversial." As Richard predicted, when I was talking with a marketing person for one of the major Alzheimer's advocacy groups, the person asked about the speakers at the event and said, "You know Richard Taylor called me an angel of death." We talked it through and agreed that if we were living with memory loss, we might also have Richard's sense of urgency and frustration, at how most if not all the resources and funds raised around Alzheimer's, are put to use for a distant cure and not towards helping people today.
<p>
In the end, the Alzheimer's advocacy group, did help us to promote and get the word out about the event. I believe that although was difficult, that it helped the person to talk out how it felt to be described that way. The conversation was frank and honest and Richard loved hearing the story. I think this person's anger came in part from the guilt of knowing we really don't do enough. I know for myself that when I heard Richard speak, it always pushed me to work harder for people living with memory loss.
<p>
Below are a few of the remarks he made that day, shaped into a poem. Like so many people I am missing my friend Richard today, but take heart in his words and send to his family and all his friends thoughts of love.
<p>
<b>
Hello, My Name is Richard Taylor </b>
<p>
It’s not complicated<br>
understanding who I am<br>
once you get past the stigmas.<br>
I am Richard,<br>
a whole human being<br>
living with the disabilities <br>
associated with the symptoms<br>
of Dementia.<br>
<p>
Please do not give up on me <br>
when I do not voluntarily<br>
communicate as you.<br>
<p>
Assume the best<br>
for me, and in me.<br>
Speak to me <br>
as if I am all here.<br>
<p>
It is a moral imperative<br>
to support those who <br>
for no reason <br>
of their own cannot <br>
meet their own needs. <br>
<p>
A clean bed, a warm meal,<br>
surroundings that mimic a hotel-<br>
these are the basic needs.<br>
<p>
It is the higher level needs<br>
you all best support. <br>
<p>
The needs that bring a smile <br>
to my face, a bounce to my step, <br>
and a handshake, a hug, or a kiss <br>
for you when you leave. <br>
<p>
Hello, my name is Richard Taylor; <br>
I am a retired psychologist <br>
living with the symptoms <br>
and diagnosis of Dementia, <br>
probably of the Alzheimer’s type.<br>
<p>
Why is it everyone <br>
is so amazed when we <br>
dance, sing, and write? <br>
Could it be we have been <br>
hitherto written off as being fully human? <br>
<p>
As our symptoms increase <br>
do our needs for happiness, <br>
connectedness, friendship, <br>
self-esteem decrease? <br>
Of course not. <br>
<p>
I will be a complete <br>
human being until <br>
about two minutes <br>
after I have drawn <br>
my last breath. <br>
<p>
<a href="http://www.richardtaylorphd.com/">Read More of Richard's Work Here.</a>
Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-2700689554037459542015-02-20T10:24:00.001-08:002015-02-20T10:25:53.489-08:00APP in Wisconsin on local TV<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<iframe scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen src="http://up.anv.bz/latest/anvload.html?key=eyJtIjoiZ3JheSIsInAiOiJkZWZhdWx0IiwidiI6IjMwNjI1NTUiLCJwbHVnaW5zIjp7ImRmcCI6eyJhZFRhZ1VybCI6Imh0dHA6Ly9wdWJhZHMuZy5kb3VibGVjbGljay5uZXQvZ2FtcGFkL2Fkcz9zej02NDB4NDgwJml1PS8zMDE3MjE3MTUvV0VBVSZjaXVfc3pzJmltcGw9cyZnZGZwX3JlcT0xJmFkX3J1bGU9MSZ2cG9zPXByZXJvbGwmZW52PXZwJm91dHB1dD14bWxfdmFzdDImdW52aWV3ZWRfcG9zaXRpb25fc3RhcnQ9MSZjb3JyZWxhdG9yPScrdHMrJyZjbXNpZD0xNTk1JnZpZD1BTlZfR1JUVl8zMDYyNTU1In0sImFuYWx5dGljcyI6eyJwZGIiOjQ5OTg2MDM0fX19" width ="640" height="360"></iframe>
<p>
This event was made possible by Bader Philanthropies’ funding, formerly the Helen Bader Foundation and a leader in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease throughout Wisconsin. Big thanks to all the students at Altoona High School and their wonderful teacher Angela Roloson. Thanks also to Ella Shaw teacher extraordinaire, who organized the events and to her students at Durand High School. Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-15843997997314403942015-01-22T06:20:00.001-08:002015-01-22T06:33:14.274-08:00Poetry for Life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkpCwqDdhmmUWGf0Vi8DYzccztTTSnXHExUDBU5UCczjyXPU5lXZAfUkX7bRlmUqiZMXSQhZ1f1-TL1ja8Fz0bkM9YmqNEDcM8h_eeWxrSbp64q2l7i1JstxBXezWz8b2Y5TMv2dVGrs/s1600/JalenBell+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkpCwqDdhmmUWGf0Vi8DYzccztTTSnXHExUDBU5UCczjyXPU5lXZAfUkX7bRlmUqiZMXSQhZ1f1-TL1ja8Fz0bkM9YmqNEDcM8h_eeWxrSbp64q2l7i1JstxBXezWz8b2Y5TMv2dVGrs/s320/JalenBell+.jpg" /></a></div>
Minds like locked boxes<br>
Presented in the round<br>
I used language like keys<br>
And love is what I found<br>
Love for the now and for history<br>
And the love was unlocked <br>
With the key of poetry<br>
- Jalen Bell <br>
<p>
So excited with get to work with talented Jalen Bell, the 2014 Poetry Out Loud, Arkansas State Champion and his family! He wrote that wonderful poem after our poetry session on Tuesday performing and creating poems with the people at Innisfree Senior Living Community in Rogers.
<p>
His younger sister Jaden also participated in the session as did his father Donovan. Jaden is preparing to take part in the National Spelling Bee. When I asked about her favorite word to spell, she said Pfeffernuesse, the German Christmas cookie. As soon as she replied one of the men in the group jumped up, went to his room and brought back a Pfeffernuesse! It was delicious!
<p>
Yes we also read the patron poem of the home, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree." The event was hosted by the Arkansas Arts Council. Big thanks to Cynthia Haas the Arts in Education Program Manager.
<p>
Poetry for Life is a pilot project to bring students who are participating in Poetry Out Loud to assisted living, adult day care and senior centers to perform and create poems with the elders.
Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-75429982316058058602014-12-27T08:41:00.000-08:002014-12-27T08:52:06.018-08:00Dementia Arts Research Article in the Washington Post<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
Fredrick Kunkle of the Washington Post asks,
<b>"Can Alzheimer’s be treated with the arts? Researchers aim to determine the answer."</b><br>
<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihLgLGgeWjcXDD51v_KOFq4C6k2wbgw5kvOKC5jeA5hdBRTcYPO8kJHScZK9h2pHOGnIKQkZF7MdLL1-IEMboukU0DJmX2mSvJWaFrJTtswVIGIwspdeOkqCv7vfl0Niv1YIWn5TQ2qis/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-12-27+at+9.45.41+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihLgLGgeWjcXDD51v_KOFq4C6k2wbgw5kvOKC5jeA5hdBRTcYPO8kJHScZK9h2pHOGnIKQkZF7MdLL1-IEMboukU0DJmX2mSvJWaFrJTtswVIGIwspdeOkqCv7vfl0Niv1YIWn5TQ2qis/s400/Screen+Shot+2014-12-27+at+9.45.41+AM.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/studies-aims-to-quantify-how-the-arts-can-help-the-elderly-and-cognitively-disabled/2014/12/26/e0d5561a-87b1-11e4-9534-f79a23c40e6c_story.html">Click here to read the full article.</a>
<p>
The National Endowment for the Arts and the National Institutes of Health and others are pushing for more answers. At Birmingham Green, researchers from George Mason University are conducting a federally subsidized study to examine the impact of the arts on the emotional and cognitive health of older adults.
<p>
“There still needs to be a lot of work done,” said Sunil Iyengar, who heads the Office of Research and Analysis at the NEA. Iyengar said research into the effect of art on people with cognitive impairments has suffered from a lack of rigor.
<p>
Too many studies lacked proper controls, involved samples that were too small, and were poorly defined. They also may have been looking for the wrong thing, Iyengar said. While searching for hard evidence of biological improvements in memory or cognition, many also overlooked measurable improvements in the mood and well-being of people with Alzheimer’s, and their caregivers, too.
<p>
<b>I am thrilled to be included in the article:</b><br>
<p>
“But outside of these things is sheer joy,” said Gary Glazner, founder and executive director of the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project. Glazner said he was working at an adult day-care center in Northern California and searching for ways to connect with people with Alzheimer’s disease when he discovered the power of poetry to reach people with cognitive impairment.
<p>
Having studied poetry in college, Glazner shared Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “The Arrow and The Song” with a resident and from the first line — “I shot an arrow” — hit the mark. Glazner uses poetry, particularly beloved classics learned by older adults, in call-and-response with older people and guides them in writing poems. Jump-rope rhymes, even military cadences, can evoke responses from people with cognitive impairment that engage them, he said.
Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-88487125464769370632014-11-13T06:41:00.001-08:002014-11-13T12:07:36.886-08:00Memory Arts Cafe Holiday Party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh62Bo-dWD5R_zNBrg0N5nwZFexgUwYxGEIbbBoDiJxOpcYnV45GZJYce8wK4t9R7LEE_Vhvd9O4JSGWVWEZpAhvjbq2San3_Wbf3jkdd18DBAoBK4ujosp_uapC4NfT3KwvN4ucmWbCOQ/s1600/MAC-DEC2014-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh62Bo-dWD5R_zNBrg0N5nwZFexgUwYxGEIbbBoDiJxOpcYnV45GZJYce8wK4t9R7LEE_Vhvd9O4JSGWVWEZpAhvjbq2San3_Wbf3jkdd18DBAoBK4ujosp_uapC4NfT3KwvN4ucmWbCOQ/s320/MAC-DEC2014-web.jpg" /></a></div>
Wednesday, December 10th, 6pm<br>
New York Memory Center<br>
199 14th Street, (At 4th Ave.)
Take the R to Prospect Avenue
<p>
This special holiday season Memory Arts Café will highlight<br>
the artists of the New York Memory Center. Meet new friends and greet<br>
old ones as we ring in the holidays with laughter, toasts and cheer.<br>
Poet-in-Residence Gary Glazner will host the evenings entertainment.<br>
Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-80480956418389632272014-11-10T05:18:00.000-08:002014-11-10T05:20:06.016-08:00NEA Audio Piece on the APP<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ayl1GbUMWW-ma6UNEZBDggoeZRRXjVX3WIylqC701qmv3DVS8C1t8inB-Y_FjLool-sBX61tXQbovwVL5FtGmeEvBxaO_6ijr-S0htcjr-Rac-_ISI3-NcgnhjpKqG9R80l3mhfgQtU/s1600/Norman-image+by+Michael+Hagedorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ayl1GbUMWW-ma6UNEZBDggoeZRRXjVX3WIylqC701qmv3DVS8C1t8inB-Y_FjLool-sBX61tXQbovwVL5FtGmeEvBxaO_6ijr-S0htcjr-Rac-_ISI3-NcgnhjpKqG9R80l3mhfgQtU/s320/Norman-image+by+Michael+Hagedorn.jpg" /></a></div>Adam Kampe, Media Producer at National Endowment for the Arts has produced an excellent audio piece on the APP.
He interviews Professor Kate de Medeiros of the University of Miami-Ohio on using poetry with people living with memory loss.
To listen to the piece click here:
<a href="http://arts.gov/audio/sparking-memories-poetry-alzheimers-poetry-project">NEA Audio Piece on the APP</a>Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-19684609369625948782014-09-27T05:12:00.001-07:002014-09-27T05:32:12.130-07:00Australian Radio Interview<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Thrilled to be interviewed on by Melanie Tait on Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio!<br>
<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/weekendarts/alzeihmer27s-poetry-project/5765976">Click here to hear the broadcast</a><br>
Brought back all the wonderful poems from last year's visit to give a workshop at the Arts and Health Australia conference including
"I love a sunburnt country," by Dorothea Mackellar. The photo is from a group I worked with at an assisted living center in Sydney. <br>
<a href="http://www.artsandhealth.org.au/conferences/the-art-of-good-health-and-wellbeing-melbourne-2014/program-at-a-glance.html">More info on the 2014 International Arts and Health Conference click here.</a> Big shout out to Margret Meagher the conference organizer and founding executive director of Arts and Health Australia for bringing me out last year. Oh give me a home among the gum trees with lots of plum trees, a sheep or two and a kangaroo.<br>
<b>My Country</b><br>
by Dorothea Mackellar (1885 - 1968)<br>
<p>
The love of field and coppice,<br>
Of green and shaded lanes.<br>
Of ordered woods and gardens<br>
Is running in your veins,<br>
Strong love of grey-blue distance<br>
Brown streams and soft dim skies<br>
I know but cannot share it,<br>
My love is otherwise.<br>
<p>
I love a sunburnt country,<br>
A land of sweeping plains,<br>
Of ragged mountain ranges,<br>
Of droughts and flooding rains.<br>
I love her far horizons,<br>
I love her jewel-sea,<br>
Her beauty and her terror -<br>
The wide brown land for me!<br>
<p>
A stark white ring-barked forest<br>
All tragic to the moon,<br>
The sapphire-misted mountains,<br>
The hot gold hush of noon.<br>
Green tangle of the brushes,<br>
Where lithe lianas coil,<br>
And orchids deck the tree-tops<br>
And ferns the warm dark soil.<br>
<p>
Core of my heart, my country!<br>
Her pitiless blue sky,<br>
When sick at heart, around us,<br>
We see the cattle die-<br>
But then the grey clouds gather,<br>
And we can bless again<br>
The drumming of an army,<br>
The steady, soaking rain.<br>
<p>
Core of my heart, my country!<br>
Land of the Rainbow Gold,<br>
For flood and fire and famine,<br>
She pays us back threefold-<br>
Over the thirsty paddocks,<br>
Watch, after many days,<br>
The filmy veil of greenness<br>
That thickens as we gaze.<br>
<p>
An opal-hearted country,<br>
A wilful, lavish land-<br>
All you who have not loved her,<br>
You will not understand-<br>
Though earth holds many splendours,<br>
Wherever I may die,<br>
I know to what brown country<br>
My homing thoughts will fly.<br>
Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-31045415321980637002014-09-15T04:05:00.002-07:002014-09-15T04:12:39.305-07:00Dementia Arts Conference: Celebrating Creativity in Elder Care<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-77-cpGzquZjnXmaZnsHa7BeTZLcUThIjptpssrmm7P-pY0xjDXuZKFeH89LIosNTrqENl3I-OjLIQxHsg35HoY2SSxO93O9CL4VW0e4TJX1bv0_6mcDrBTTGxzT5JivNO-1cmpN1vA/s1600/Conference+Flyer+page+one.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-77-cpGzquZjnXmaZnsHa7BeTZLcUThIjptpssrmm7P-pY0xjDXuZKFeH89LIosNTrqENl3I-OjLIQxHsg35HoY2SSxO93O9CL4VW0e4TJX1bv0_6mcDrBTTGxzT5JivNO-1cmpN1vA/s400/Conference+Flyer+page+one.jpg" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The New Mexico History Museum joins the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project to share techniques for reaching people with memory illnesses through literature, performance and visual art and museum exhibits on Saturday, October 25, 9am to 4pm, New Mexico History Museum, 113 Lincoln Avenue Santa Fe, NM 87501. Registration fee of $35 includes light breakfast and lunch. Continuing Education Units will be available.
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To register or for more information call 505-577-2250 or go to: <a href="www.dementiaarts.com">www.dementiaarts.com</a>
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Workshops will be led by: Gary Glazner, Alzheimer’s Poetry Project; Alysha Shaw, Lifesongs℠; Jane Tygesson, Discover Your Story; Ruth Dennis, Vista Living; and Jytte Lokvig, Alzheimer’s Café. Poet Stuart Hall will be the featured guest artist.
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Partnering Organizations: Alzheimer’s Association, New Mexico Chapter; Alzheimer’s Café; Alzheimer’s Poetry Project; Discover Your Story, IAIA MFA Creative Writing Program; Institute of Dementia Education & Art; Life Songs; New Mexico Literary Arts; Southwestern College, and Vista Living Communities. The conference is in support the New Mexico Alzheimer’s and Related Dementia State Plan, with the endorsement of: the officeof Governor Susana Martinez New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department and the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.
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Partially funded by the City of Santa Fe Arts Commission; Santa Fe Community Foundation; McCune Foundation; National Endownent for the Arts; New Mexico Arts and the Poetry Foundation.
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<a href="www.dementiaarts.com">www.dementiaarts.com</a>Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-59388953726531122262014-06-25T05:08:00.001-07:002014-06-25T05:18:44.899-07:00Celebration of Creativity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQ7N2mdrj656tstM0zEfeKAN3CcIERNRtP8QmZWSkpPfh3CAokrHXsEEFd6zArJcXrAdiAnOjZARUjvR7jM2GSVPJt9m1ffLBzGXSqLZS-p251-qughylygrIvKr1l6xZ7mOkVrY1SWU/s1600/MAC-JUNE14-PCRD_Page_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQ7N2mdrj656tstM0zEfeKAN3CcIERNRtP8QmZWSkpPfh3CAokrHXsEEFd6zArJcXrAdiAnOjZARUjvR7jM2GSVPJt9m1ffLBzGXSqLZS-p251-qughylygrIvKr1l6xZ7mOkVrY1SWU/s320/MAC-JUNE14-PCRD_Page_1.jpg" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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New York Memory Center, Alzheimer’s Poetry Project and the<br>
Brooklyn Public Library Present:<br>
A Celebration of Creativity<br>
A Memory Arts Café event, featuring singer Hannah Reimann<br>
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Saturday, June 28th, 10:30 am to 12:30pm,
Brooklyn Public Library
Dweck Center
10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn.
For info: call (718) 499-7701 or visit alzpoetry.com
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Memory Arts Café is series of free art events for people living with Alzheimer’s disease, their caregivers and the general public and is co-produced by New York Memory Center and the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project. The series includes light refreshments and the opportunity to chat with the guest artists.
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The Celebration of Creativity with feature guest artist, singer and actor Hannah Reimann and be hosted by poet Gary Glazner. The highlight of the day will be the artists leading the audience, in the creation and performance of an exciting new work combining music and poetry.
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Hannah Reimann has performed at Lincoln Center, the Grand Canyon Music Festival, and mostly recently performing the music of Joni Mitchell at the Cutting Room. Jim Brenholts for All Music writes, “Hannah’s range allows her to sing love songs, simple ballads, melancholy blues, and torch songs with equal gusto. Her lyrics are complex and simple; they are heartfelt and liberating.” She has collaborated with violist Paul Coletti performing the music of Argentine Astor Piazzolla. As a film actor, Reimann has appeared in over 20 independent films including the award-winning "The Wounded & the Slain" and “Things I Don’t Understand.” Her original music has been featured on CNN.
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The event is co-produced by New York Memory Center, Alzheimer’s Poetry Project, and the Brooklyn Public Library.
Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-6477337271632509662014-02-17T11:30:00.002-08:002014-02-18T05:21:30.273-08:00Poetry by Miriam Green<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Questions my Mother Asked, Answers my Father Gave Her</b><br>
by Miriam Green<br>
<p>
Where were you last night?<br>
I was here, with you, though you thought I was your father.<br>
Where were you last night?<br>
Out dancing with my lover who never forgets my name.<br>
<p>
Where are the children?<br>
They are grown with children of their own. They live in their own homes.<br>
Where are the children?<br>
They are waiting in the silken sky for your goodnight kisses.<br>
<p>
Do you want a cup of tea?<br>
Not now. I’m busy. You made some an hour ago.<br>
Do you want a cup of tea?<br>
I want many things. I want to stand with you under the canopy and never look forward.<br>
<p>
How many children did I give birth to?<br>
You cradled them both in your arms, raised them to adulthood.<br>
How many children did I give birth to?<br>
Daughter earth is calling. Go gently to her.<br>
<p>
Where are my keys?<br>
I told you. Check the back pocket of your bag.<br>
Where are my keys?<br>
We are locked inside this room together.<br>
<p>
Is it time yet?<br>
We have plenty of time.<br>
Is it time yet?<br>
Yes, it is time.<br>
<p>
after Mark Strand<br>
<p>
“Questions” recently won the 2013 Reuben Rose Poetry Prize. It appears on Miriam’s <a href="http://miriamsgreen.wix.com/thelostkitchen">website</a><br>
and in her as yet unpublished cookbook, The Lost Kitchen: An Alzheimer’s Memoir and Cookbook.<br>Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437936388991221736.post-59819851277467647192014-01-26T14:52:00.001-08:002014-01-26T15:01:52.728-08:00Definition of Angel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The poets of Pacifica Assisted Living Center in Santa Fe New Mexico and poet Joanne Dwyer created definition of Angel on November 20th, 2013. Model poems that were used in the session include: “In beauty may I walk,” Navajo – translated by Jerome K Rothenberg; “A List of Praises,” Anne Porter (Abridged); “Perhaps the World Ends Here,” Joy Harjo; “Te Deum,” Charles Reznikoff and “The Waking,” Theodore Roethke
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Dwyer write about the sessions, “The theme of the session (because of Thanksgiving approaching) was gratitude and appreciation. The last two lines of the poem “A List of Praises,” are:
<p>
And with this poem, a leaf on the vast flood,
And with the angels in that other country.
<p>
Which led me to ask the residents their definition of angel and hence came an unexpected poem, not just about gratitude, but angels. And the beautiful story that Wilbur shared from WWII. Wilbur, who at first, did not want to stay for poetry…”
<p>
<b>Definition of Angel</b>
<p>
A dark woman in a white cloud<br>
wearing beautiful clothes.<br>
<p>
White cloud with her floating around.<br>
I wouldn’t know what to say to her.<br>
<p>
Angels are little children.<br>
<p>
Angel = heaven.<br>
<p>
I have met the equivalent on earth many times.<br>
<p>
I had an experience with angels in Israel.<br>
My parents had died.<br>
Things needed to be done, that I could not do.<br>
Two weeks without food.<br>
Suddenly a very tall, but young woman -<br>
she wasn’t quite like we are.<br>
She radiated love.
"Where are you going, my little one", she asked.<br>
"I am trying to get back to my father", I replied.<br>
<p>
An angel is an angel.<br>
<p>
There are many angelic people in the world<br>
who are not self-serving.<br>
<p>
A being that is beautiful and angelic.<br>
<p>
I don’t know how many years ago,<br>
in the war in the Pacific, <br>
in the marine corps,<br>
going from island to island<br>
chasing the Japanese off...<br>
Well, angels, I talked with -<br>
maybe it was with angels.<br>
I said, please spare me<br>
and it helped.<br>
<p>
<b>Info on Joanne Dwyer</b><br>
<p>
You may read Dwyer's work on the <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/245406">Poetry Foundation website.</a> For info on her book, Belle Laide published by <a href="http://www.sarabandebooks.org/?page_id=9847">Sarabande Books</a>
Gary Glaznerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249612560922029331noreply@blogger.com