In this session we will read and reflect on poems and the lessons they teach from the noted writers Donald Hall and his wife, Jane Kenyon, describing Jane’s journey with and death from leukemia. Their powerful poems can help us better understand the experiences of illness, dying, death, and grief.

Learning Objectives:

• Articulate how poems/poetry can help hospice and palliative care professionals better understand the ways their patients and family members experience illness, dying, death and grief.
• Identify reasons to add the tool of poems/poetry to the self-care toolbox of hospice and palliative caregivers.
• Embrace poetry as a resource for hospice and palliative care team members after hearing and reading poems about illness and dying and reflecting on how “…dying and illness are a kind of poetry.”