Although I am a visual artist, I began writing poetry at age 14, and rediscovered it ten years ago. When I did, I began reading the many contemporary poets we have, as well as some of the ancient mystics. What richness I found! I also discovered poetry in new places. David Whyte and James Autry were bringing poetry into the business setting, and people were hungry for it. 

Many years ago, I brought poetry into the workplace at Tom’s of Maine. It soon became a valuable communication tool. We begin every Board Meeting with a poem and a related connecting exercise. At Mission council meetings, as well as meetings of the entire company, poems have become a catalyst for human exchange on a (sometimes surprisingly) deeply felt level. In poems, things can be said (and not said, yet touched on) that just do not make it into our surface conversation. We connect on a deeper level when we share our human joys or disappointments, and we bring that sense of connection into our work together. The William Stafford poem which follows, “A Ritual to Read to Each Other,” speaks to the dangers of not knowing each other in this way. 

Poetry is … “the human soul entire,” says Langston Hughes, “squeezed like a lemon or a lime, drop by drop into atomic words.” 

This concentrative aspect of poetry comes with its tight economy of words, and gives it the power to move us, to change the way we look at things. The poems chosen for each of the Seven Intentions are meant to evoke an aspect of the intention, and to lead us into deeper reflection on the issues at hand. As you listen to each poem, first savor the words, their sounds and rhythms, without trying to figure out the meaning. Then, notice what phrases capture your attention, what feelings come up for you. Think about what this means in your life. 

The poets we use range from Rainer Maria Rilke, a German lyric poet of the early 20th century, to Mary Oliver, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet who lives and writes in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

You can find more of Kate’s art at katechappellartspace.com »