Tipperary nursing home residents enjoy a poetry session

“Here comes the soft pad-pad of slippered feet,
the gentle roll of wheels across green lino.
The listeners gather in twos and threes –
there is poetry in motion at the nursing home today.”

Every year, Culture Night is celebrated in venues across the nation, providing fantastic opportunities for people to enjoy a rich variety of artistic and cultural experiences.
But what about those who are physically unable to attend these events?

In response to this question, this year, Eileen Acheson and Jenny Cox of Write Minds decided to bring Culture Night to the residents of Rathkeevan Nursing Home with their event, ‘Poetry in Motion’.
Eileen and Jenny hosted an afternoon poetry reading at the home in Rathkeevan.
They shared pieces from well-known Irish greats such as Patrick Kavanagh, Seamus Heaney, John O’Donoghue and WB Yeats as well as pieces from their own collections, ‘I Wonder’ and ‘a life to be lived’.

“Many of the residents were reciting the poems from memory along with us; their response was very moving. We were delighted to have such an engaged audience.”
During the afternoon, Jenny and Eileen chatted with the residents to gather words, thoughts and ideas that they then used to create a collaborative poem.

POETRY IN MOTION
The poem, titled ‘Poetry in Motion’, echoes Kavanagh’s ‘Inniskeen Road: July Evening’ and Yeats’s ‘The Song of Wandering Aengus’.
“We really wanted to capture the whole experience – not just in the visual sense, but also the feeling in the room that day. It was really special. We wanted to give the residents their voice.”
The poem has now been framed and presented to the staff and residents of Rathkeevan where it will hang in the nursing home for posterity.

The staff commented that they felt lucky to be included in the culture and arts activities of the town.
The importance of engaging older people in the arts has long been recognised as a hugely beneficial practice. Rathkeevan manager Renny Abraham commented,

LASTING EFFECT
“The residents loved the poetry…it had a lasting effect on them.”
Eileen and Jenny thank the wonderful Activities Co-ordinators Claire and Olivia for all their help and manager Renny Abraham for welcoming them into Rathkeevan Nursing Home.
This event was made possible with the support of Tipperary County Council Arts Office and the Arts Council.