Poetry

“Introduction to My ‘Poems’ ”

My intention behind each one of my "poems" is for me through them to be therapeutic: to raise the Life Energy, the Healing Spirit.

Books of Therapeutic Poetry

Arborophilia: Writings on Trees
Inspired by his lifelong love of trees, Arborophilia is a magnificent collection of therapeutic writings by one of the great healers of our age.

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A Book of Cantillatory Poems
This collection of poetry, based on 25 years of clinical research into the highest therapeutic powers of all art forms, brings together highly acclaimed poets and many who have gone unrecognized for nearly four hundred years.

To read some of Dr. Diamond’s therapeutic poetry…

…click here.

“The Last Poem of Su Tung-p’o”

The last line of probably the last poem of Su Tung-p'o (1037-1101), knowing he was soon to die: “Beyond treetops I see the slant of a bridge.”

“Sitting with Keats”

A pigeon with one leg hobbles over to him – Knowing more than the medical students. How can they walk past – and not Know?

“My Work: To Reveal the Ordinary as Instances”

I have long felt very close to the poetry of Po Chu’i (778-846), the most popular poet of the T’ang dynasty, the great age of Chinese poetry. Burton Watson writes of his “rapt appreciation of the ordinary,” which profoundly influenced not only the poets of China but also of Korea and Japan – including, I believe, the haiku poets.

“Thoughts Inspired by John Donne”

"I am a little world made cunningly Of elements and an angelic sprite." - John Donne, "Holy Sonnets" The “angelic sprite” our Soul, our Jen, our Matrophilia.

“Re-Versing John Donne”

Take these lines by John Donne: I am a little world made cunningly Of elements and an angelic sprite.

“Meditating to a Boab Tree”

I’d like to be a boab tree, sitting like a Buddha in the sand. Firmly planted, well grounded, legs folded under.

“Singing the Undulations”

Arthur Waley writes that Roger Fry, the art critic, "thought verse ought to be printed in lines that undulated in a way to reinforce the rhythms." In essence, that’s what I try to do with my “compositions” – merely singing the undulations of the poet’s rhythms.