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Narrative Medicine & Graphic Medicine

Poetry in the Healthcare Setting

Poetry Council

For over seven years, an informal group of Allina clinicians, including physicians, nurses, integrative therapy practitioners, and other staff, have met to select a weekly poem that is then shared in print form at a very select number of locations throughout Allina Health.  These copies are freely available for staff, families and patients to take as they are interested.  Poems are selected that reflect and relate to the feelings and experiences that occur in healthcare.    Examples of past poems include: 

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

Night Ride Home by Joni Mitchell

Dusk by Tracy K. Smith