原创： 这是光
“ 他山之石，为「是光」新的固定栏目。通过定期翻译国外关于现代诗歌的朗读、创作、活动的文章，实现诗歌更大程度上的探索和借鉴推广。 ”
诗以达意：诗歌的治愈力
罗伯特·卡罗尔博士（Dr.Robert Carrol)
加州大学洛杉矶分校精神病学专业
Two years ago, I was asked to pair poets with brain cancer patients at UCLA in the Department of Neuro-Oncology, so that the poets could help the patients find the words to articulate their experiences. One patient reported his dilemma following brain surgery to remove his cancer.
两年前，我受托为加州大学洛杉矶分校神经肿瘤学系的脑肿瘤患者寻找与之配对的诗人，从而让诗人帮助患者找到准确的词语来描述他们的经历。其中一位患者这样描述他在做了摘除肿瘤的脑外科手术之后陷入的困境。
I felt I lost my edge
and then I lost my place but the tragedy is
I have so much to say
我感到我失去了自己的特质
而后又失去了我的位置 然而悲剧却是
我有那么多的话想要倾诉
Although illness is usually discussed in terms of a patient's symptoms, deficit, or impairment, it is also about how people respond when faced with extreme circumstances and what they have to tell and teach us. One of the poems that came out of the poetry and brain cancer project was "Amazing Change" .
尽管病痛通常以患者的症状、缺陷或障碍等形式出现在讨论中，关于疾病的话题其实也包括极端情况下人们如何应对，以及他们必须倾诉和教给我们的那些事。其中有一首出自诗歌与脑肿瘤研究项目的名为《奇异的转变》的诗这样写道，
Amazing Change
We can go through amazing changes when we are faced
with knowing
we have limited time.
After one woman got brain cancer
she decided what she wanted
was to go to Africa to see the gorillas.
She and her husband and the guides began the long trek
through the jungle up the mountains,
but the woman was
having trouble. The guides tried
to convince her to go back, but
she wouldn't.
She struggled and struggled.
Eventually she won the guides over
and everyone was rooting for her but there came a
point when
she couldn't go on, so
she laid down on the grass and when she did,
the gorillas came out of the jungle
to her.
《奇异的转变》
当我们必须面对自己时间所剩无几这个事实时
我们会经历奇异的转变。
一个女人患了脑肿瘤后决定要
去非洲看大猩猩。
她和她的丈夫以及向导开始长途跋涉
穿越丛林跨越群山，
但她的健康状况十分堪忧。
向导试图
劝她放弃，但
她不肯。
她咬牙坚持着。最终她说服了向导，
所有人都为她加油打气。但后来还是到了
她无法再坚持下去的时刻，于是
她终于躺倒在草地上
而当她躺下的时候，大猩猩们从丛林里出来
走向了她。
If you didn't read this poem aloud, do so now. What is your experience of reading this poem? How is it relevant to you? Do you identify with the woman or, perhaps the husband or the guides or even the gorillas? Can you visualize the images, see the people trekking along, then lying down the grass? What sounds can you hear? What is the smell of jungle?
当你还没有出声朗读这首诗，现在就请试试吧。这首诗的朗读体验如何？它如何与你产生共鸣？你是否与这位女主人公，或者她的丈夫，那位向导，甚至是黑猩猩有相似的经历？你的眼前能否浮现出人们经过长途跋涉然后躺倒在草地上的气味？
What physical sensations do you feel in your body as the poem unfolds? What happens to your breathing when you read the last lines? How did the transformation that happened at the end of the poem affect you? Did you have any associations to the poem about a situation in your own life?
随着诗的展开，你的身体感受到了怎样的生理反应？当读到最后一行时，你的呼吸发生了怎样的变化？诗的结尾所描述的转变对你产生了怎样的影响？在你自己的人生经历中，是否曾有过任何类似的境遇？
Whatever your experiences of reading this poem, they are examples of the ways that poetry works. It gets into us and plays through our psycho/neuro/immuno-sensory selves.
无论读这首诗的具体体验如何，它都是诗歌效果的具体例证。诗歌走进我们，通过我们的心理、神经、免疫感觉等系统影响着我们。
In other words
poetry has ways of working that get under our skin, which
is to say
it has ways
to get in
换句话说
诗歌有办法影响到我们，也就是说
它有办法
走近我们。
All of my professional life, I have used language embodied in voice as part of my medicine. Whether it was an attempt to talk someone through a traumatic experience or to help them understand the implication of their diagnosis or to aid them in finding the words to write their own stories and poetry, I have encouraged patients to speak and write their truths.
在个人职业生涯当中，我曾把以言语声为载体的语言作为治疗的药物。无论是尝试与患者共同回顾创伤经历，还是帮助他们理解诊断结果的意义，又或者是帮他们为自己的故事或诗歌作品寻找合适的词语，我都鼓励患者把真实的经历和感受说出来、写出来。
At the same time, I have learned from them. One of the privileges of being clinicians is that we have a place in our patients' lives as they live through experiences that we may have yet to face ourselves.
同时，我也不断从他们身上学习。做临床医生的一个好处就是我们能够参与患者的人生，通过他们去经历那些我们自己都可能还未体验过的事情。
It is becoming more and more common for people dealing with serious illness to write and publish their stories and poems as their own healing practice. Many physicians and other health care providers have joined in writing their own personal experiences with illness, death and dying.
重症患者以书写和出版自己的人生故事及诗歌作品作为治疗方法已经越来越普遍了。很多医生及其他护理从业者也加入进来，记述有关病患、死亡、临终的个人经历。
So, it may be difficult
to get the news
from poems,
but it is becoming
more and more
common
因此，从诗歌里
读到时下新闻
或许没那么容易，
但这已经变得
越来越
寻常了
诗歌与治疗
In my private practice of family psychiatry, I often ask whether my patients do any writing and for what purpose. In my work with them, I support their writing and encourage its use whether it is through poetry, journals or personal letters. I encourage bringing the writing in as material for discussion, and I may make suggestions. For example, writing in the third person gives distance to your voice, so try writing in the first person.
在我的家庭精神病私人诊所里，我通常会问患者平常会不会写点儿什么，以及其写作的目的。在治疗的时候，不管是诗歌、日志或私人书信，我支持他们写作，并鼓励他们通过写作进行治疗。我会鼓励他们来诊所的时候带着自己写的东西。我们会进行讨论，然后我可能给一些建议。比方说，以第三人称进行的叙述会让你的声音同自己拉开距离，因此尽量以第一人称进行记录。
I also sometimes give assignments. For example, write what you are having difficulty saying, or bringing in a poem which is particularly meaningful to you. This can then become a springboard for discussion and exploration. The poem "I Can't" by Carlene Shaff represents a turning point in her treatment, facilitated by using poetry therapy, and documented in her poem "I Can't".
有时，我也会给他们布置写作任务。例如，写一些你很难说出口的话题，或者下次请带来一首对你非常有意义的诗作。这些“小作文”都可以作为讨论和探究的跳板。卡琳·夏芙的诗《我做不到》就代表了她治疗过程中的一个转折点，这个转变通过诗歌疗法得以实现，并被这首诗记录了下来。
I can't
I can't. I just can't. I can't do it all.
I can't be all things to all people
At all times and under all circumstances.
I can't be the one to always change my plans to suit another's.
I can't be the one to pick up after others all the time.
I can't work all day and stop at the grocery and cook dinner
And have it ready by 6:30.
I can't carry the weight of the world
I need some support, too, and a rest.
I can't; can't, can't cantaloupe, can't canticle, can't
cantilever, Cantina, cantata, cantankerous, cannon.
Canape, canard, candelabra, can... can...,
Can I? Can I just do it? Can I do it all?
Can I ration my time to allow for my priorities?
Can I ask others to share the burdens?
Can I refuse this role of superwoman?
Can I just 'say no'?
I can. I can just say no. I can just say,
"I'm out of the business of doing it all."
I can take time for myself to breathe
And dream or just sit quietly.
And I will!
《我做不到》
我做不到。我就是做不到。我不能什么事都面面俱到。
我不能在任何时间任何情况下
都让所有人满意。
我不能总是改变自己的计划去迎合别人。
我不能总是替别人收拾他们自己的烂摊子。
我不能白天上了一天班，
下班后去买菜，回家再做饭
还得赶在六点半以前做完。
我不能什么事都自己一个人扛。
我也需要帮助，也需要休息。
我做不到，做不到，做不了，做不完，做不好，做不成，座，坐，作，祚,
酢，怍，阼，做......做......
我做得到？我能做得到？
我能什么事都面面俱到？
我能合理分配自己的时间保证我的优先事项吗？
我能请别人来分担我的压力吗？
我能不做女超人吗？
我能说“不”吗？
我做得到。我可以说“不”。我可以说，
“我受够了所有人事情都自己一个人扛。”
我可以把时间留给自己喘口气
做个梦或者就安静地坐在那里。
而且我会的！
Did you experience the change that Carlene went through? Poetry therapy is not only used with individuals. It is frequently used in groups. Shahin Sakhi, a psychiatrist who attended a poetry therapy seminar, told me he had never previously written a poem or any other type of expressive writing. The first words he wrote were:
你体会到卡琳所经历的心态变化了吗？诗歌疗法不止适用于个人，它也经常用于团体治疗。一位参加诗歌疗法研讨会的精神病学家夏辛·撒奇告诉我，他此前从没进行过诗歌或其他任何的表达性写作。他写下的头几句是这样的：
I am tired.
I have died so many times in so many ways.
I am tired of dying, dying again and again...
The first death I remember is the beheading
of my pet pigeon
By my father
In the basement.
我很累
我以不同的方式死了很多回
我已经厌倦了一次又一次地死去......
我记忆中的第一次死亡经历是我的宠物鸽子
在地下室
被我父亲
砍掉了头
It was the first time he had shared this experience. Finding the words to express it was a deeply healing experience for Shanhin, and his relief was palpable.
这是他第一次和人分享这段经历。寻找合适的词语进行表达对夏辛来说是一种深度的治愈经历，而由此带来的解脱是显而易见的。