
Certified Listener Poet,
Cohort 1 Fall 2021
Mindy Shah grew up near the shores of Lake Erie, in Ohio, and spent much of her childhood tramping around the woods and writing stories she seldom finished. After starting a career in creative writing, an experience of being a patient herself led her to change direction; she completed a postbaccalaureate premedical program at Bryn Mawr College and went on to study medicine, ultimately training in internal medicine, geriatrics, and hospice and palliative medicine.
Mindy lives in Wisconsin with her spouse and daughter. She works full time in medicine alongside her work with TGLP.
She is a single mother born to a single mother and had to grow up fast. She is juggling a sticky work situation, her own anxiety and depression, and being away from home and her kids.
Instead of the usual Listener Poet format – listening to one person’s story and responding with a framing narrative and custom poem – I was invited to create a group poem for forty participants at the Arts in Healing luncheon, hosted by the Inova Health Foundation in partnership with the board.
What does it mean for people living with Sickle Cell Disease to be seen, heard, and understood? For this person, it meant finding – and using – her voice to advocate for herself and for others.