Poetry Group Creates More Than The Written Word

By Nancy K. Crevier

Out of the Creative Wellspring Workshop held at the C.H. Booth Library five years ago has flowed a new stream of creativity, The Loose Women Poets’ Society, a gathering of ten women writers. Inspired by the 2001 workshop, several of the participants started the group in order to fan the embers of the writing fire that had been kindled within them.

Just who are these “loose” women? Liz Arneth, Joan Crisona, Rita Frost, Lisa Green, Paula Hopper, Ginger Humeston, Marie Johnson and Lisa Austin-Smith make up the core of the group, with Selma Kentner, from Istanbul, Turkey, and Kaaren Whitney from England joining them when they are in town.

The writing group’s name remains a bit of an enigma, with none of the eight women able to recall exactly how it came about. “I think,” says Ms Humeston, “that it may refer to the loose structure of our gathering.”

“Remember, we wrote poems at the beginning about what ‘loose’ meant to us,” Ms Crisona reminds the others.

At any rate, they all agree that it does not apply to their morals, although says Ms Hopper, “We laugh, we cry, we hoot, we holler.” Thankfully, they chuckle, they have not been tossed out of the very accommodating library for any amount of levity or gravity that leaks beneath the door of their meeting room.

“What is amazing is what members have been through in the five years, and we all keep coming back together,” exclaims Liz Arneth. “We lead very different lives, but I am so grateful [for the poetry group], because we might never have known each other otherwise.”

Adds Rita Frost: “The things inside us would never be expressed if we didn’t have this group. It’s a venue to pull that spirit out of us.”

The eclectic group — photographer, cinematographer, singer, massage therapist, healer, teachers, artists, wives, mothers — meets once a week at the library to share their poetry and to develop their techniques. Sometimes they are guided by their facilitator, Ms Arneth, other times they might use photographs or found objects to stimulate their creative juices. One of the exercises in which they have taken part is called “poetry in the round.” As Ms Arneth describes it, “One person starts a line and we add on. You never know where it’s going. It’s very spontaneous.”

Each woman has her own style that, Ms Frost says, they are now able to identify after so much time together. The process of the writing is examined in a nonjudgmental manner, and any critiquing is gently folded into positive suggestions.

“We all have a natural urge to create,” says Ms Hopper. “We have found here comfort, trust, and respect. And we have a heck of a good time!”

“It’s a safe place,” agrees Ms Crisona. “There’s a sisterhood here. The transition from moving from New York to Connecticut was hard for me until I found this group. Even if I write something goofy, no one criticizes.”

The group has morphed beyond just a writing workshop. “When the spirit moves us, we go on field trips,” Ms Arneth says. Some of the field trips are directly related to poetry, such as a program presented at Western CT State University by Billy Collins, a former Poet Laureate of the United States. They are not, however, adverse to a YaYa Sisterhood party, building Altoid altars, creating prayer shawls, or dressing up like gypsies.

“I think that the gypsy party grew out of looking for connections,” muses Ms Humeston. “We were wondering who were we before we were here [in this time and space and a part of this group]. Because we wouldn’t know each other outside of the group.”

The parties and field trips can lead to poems as, “We write from our lives,” says Ms Hopper. “We discover truth and universal feelings. Every one of us has shared some of the things we experience in our poetry.”

The Loose Women Poets’ Society self-published a book of their early poems, which served as a confirmation of their talent and ingenuity. The women concur that their poetry has evolved.

“You’re more apt to write when you know you need to share something, you make the time for writing,” Ms Frost explains. “[The gathering] is so much better when you come prepared.”

For some, the preparation takes place under the power of the full moon, for others it is a slow process of observation and introspection. Then, too, there are times, confesses Ms Green, when one prays for red lights all the way to the group in order to jot down lines and ideas.

What the women speak remains within the group. What they share, whether it be verbalized or written, covers tears, laughter, anger, and joy. Their writing and wisdom is sometimes funny, often poignant. And what they take with them from the weekly meeting can manifest itself in their lives

“I found my voice here that helped me listen to what I wanted to do,” says Ms Green, who is now studying to become a licensed massage therapist.

The Loose Woman Poets’ Society is at its capacity so far as membership goes, say the women, but they are more than willing to offer their advice and experience to others interested in starting new groups.

Says Ms Hopper, “Know in your heart and mind that with the right support, wonderful things can happen.”