Have You Heard the Word? Spoken Word Artist in the Infusion Center

Michael’s writing process in the pediatric infusion center.

Chemotherapy is a difficult thing to go through. For Michael, the infusion treatment can sometimes leave his mind feeling a bit “scattered”.

A poet, avid spoken word artist, and self-proclaimed extrovert, Michael has been feeling a bit less engaged in his writing lately due to the side effects of treatment. “Puzzles, though have been a way to counteract that scattered feeling,” he stated as he pulled out a picture of the current thousand piece creation that he was working on at home.

After some encouragement Michael was ready to engage in a co-writing and drumming activity where he reflected on how a puzzle is like a metaphor for his situation; an exercise in trying to pull some broken pieces back together to make a whole picture.

After some discussion we decided to write a piece where we alternated lines reflecting on the theme of “puzzles”. Check out the words below we co-wrote during one of his weekly infusions which he cleverly titled “Puzzled Piece”.

“Puzzled Piece” by Michael and Dan.

After writing this Michael spoke out the piece in true “spoken word artist” fashion as I accompanied him on the djembe.

The words had a flow that seemed effortless. You could tell he had done this before. It is not everyday, that you can say, theres a poet up on the infusion floor.

Check out Michael’s website here (cavemanthinks.com) and donate today to continue bringing creative arts therapy to our patients!