The Healing Verse: Mental Health Poetry Short Films

Mental health poetry can transform our experiences every day. When traditional gathering places for poetry experiences were shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trapeta B. Mayson, the city of Philadelphia’s 2020 – 2021 Poet Laureate, wanted to find a way to help people maintain connection, and to reach people through the power of poetry.

In addition to her work as a poet, Trapeta is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), with a focus on mental health. Keenly aware of the immensely positive connection between poetry and mental health, she tapped into the strong community of poets in the Philadelphia area and created The Healing Verse Poetry Line, a toll-free telephone number that offers callers a 90-second poem to inspire, rejuvenate and, of course, heal.

Recovery Diaries is thrilled to shine a spotlight on The Healing Verse Poetry Line,a resource that encourages a pause in our busy days to help us center, contemplate, and think just a bit differently from the grind of everyday.

It is impossible to know what resources could potentially help us as we navigate our everyday issues as well as our mental health challenges, and a 90-second poem may not be what everybody would first identify as a helpful resource; but you never know until you try. The Healing Verse Poetry Line is a helping hand just waiting to be discovered.

Poets in this short film series include Trapeta B. Mayson, Beth Feldman Brandt, Enoch the Poet, Cydney Brown, Ursula Rucker, Thomas Devaney, and Yolanda Wisher.

We invite you to join the conversation and would love to know your stories, your thoughts on this topic. Please comment on one of these mental health poetry short films if you feel comfortable sharing. A playlist of all four short films can be viewed on YouTube.