Embodied words; the lived experience of writing poetry

This paper reveals the lived experience of writing poetry as an embodied and reflexive activity. Writing poetry became an integral part of my life many years ago. Becoming a mother and being in a difficult relationship impelled me to write. Writing helped me cope with loneliness while enabling intimate conversations with myself. Later, years of therapy, with writing always alongside, led to training to become a counsellor. During this time, a family trauma made writing and personal therapy crucial, aiding the resilience needed to hold onto my life through shock and grief. Words did not just help understanding myself; they became life-giving. We all use and have physical responses to words: in love, in joy, in anger, in distress, for they carry our emotions. I write from an embodied self who listens to the sounds of spoken words as I let myself encounter them anew in each poem.