Writing is the foundational force that changed my life from one of isolation and silence into a life of well-being and connection. Today I use poetry and other forms of writing as awareness tools in my coaching, as I have personally experienced writing’s transformational, life-affirming power, its priceless ability to surprise, and its comforting presence.

In my own writing practice, I pin drafts of the newest chapters or poems on the corkboards above my desk, a collaging of what has been written and a visual way to access the flow of a book. A poetry manuscript is in “final edit” stage, and I’m also working on a non-fiction manuscript.  I share my latest poem here in gratitude for your interest, and the compelling mystery that calls me to write.

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COMMUNION

There is a bowl.

Stories gather within its unsounded depths

even as the bowl fits in the curve of your palm

tales once pebble-sized now grown into stones

the sly ones that enter without your knowing.

There is a bowl.

 It is filled with the water of compassion.

 This is the same bowl.

It brims over crying

when the stories jostle against one another.

 In its brimming the bowl asks only this—

Make room.

Make space between the words where

consequence and compassion may sit in communion.

 Everything rests on the holding of the bowl.

—Nancy G. Shapiro