Featured Publications
April 2021
To celebrate National Poetry Month this year, we're pleased to feature a few new poems from our forthcoming collection for the Veterans' Affairs Center for Development & Civic Engagement. After our Online Listener Poet sessions wrapped up, they graciously shared how participants have been using the poems that were written for them:
The poem "Change of Pace" has led to the expansion of the program: “My Life, My Story,” where volunteers capture the story of Veterans for the medical record. The intent is to allow providers to develop rapport more quickly and easily. You can listen to the podcast here.
The poem "The VA of the Future I See" was used as part of an introduction to speak at a Diversity Discussion attended by about 350 people nationally last month. All requested copies of the poem.
The poem "Innovation Ecosystem" was published in VHA’s State of Innovation Report (see page 15). This link will tell you about the office and connect you to the publication.
The poem "The Flip Side" was used as part of a speech during the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) conference.
The poem "Skin" continues to be the "why" behind a push for more discussion about JEDI-life: Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
The pandemic had forced this woman to slow her life down drastically. Before, she’d travelled around every month for work, never stopping, working hard because she cared about her job. The slower pace created by social distancing had reminded her to cherish everything that life had to offer outside of work.
She thought that though society would eventually speed back up again, the increased awareness of social injustice would not fade away. She could see that widespread personal and collective change had been allowed to grow in the absence of regular social functioning, and she had a cautious optimism that this would not stop as society returned to its previous hyper-productive state.
~ Elle Klassen, Listener Poet
Thank you!
We love learning how participants experience the value of their sessions with our Listener Poets. Contact us to let us know how you've used your poem.
