Francesca Gallello (Cirò Marina KR Calabria) is an Italian writer, poet, journalist, editor. She completed her studies in agriculture and subsequently in literature. She wrote her first novel at the age of 9. She has written many books and poems translated and published in different countries around the world. She has received several awards and recognition worldwide. She is Director of the Veliero publishing house and Director of the international online magazine SATURNO magazine where she gives space to authors from all over the world. She is passionate for writing and reading but she also loves cooking very much and runs a cooking blog “Flavours, the pleasure of cooking”. Her poetic style is defined as Gallellian by the greatest exponents of international culture and used as a guide for studies and research of poetic language.
LIKE A LEAF IN THE WIND
Let my heart bleed relentlessly
Don’t dry my tears
Don’t caress my face
To dry my tears
The wind will ruffle my thoughts
And he’ll bring them to you
With unknown words and my lament will be
accompanied by a sad melody that will take me away from you
Like a leaf in the wind.
MEMORIES OF LOVE
Like cherry branches
My heart will sprout with thoughts of love
and lullaby sounds.
In my eyes, your smile
Endless Memory
Of a love that was.
POETRY AS MEDICINE FOR THE SOUL
Throughout human history, poetry has always played a therapeutic role, a balm for the soul capable of alleviating the weight of human suffering. This is not just a romantic notion, but a reality recognized by doctors, psychologists, and poets who have seen in verses a means of inner healing. Even in ancient Greece, poetry had a cathartic function: Aristotle spoke of “catharsis,” which tragedy could provoke in spectators, purifying emotions through art. The verses of Homer, Pindar, and Sappho evoked deep feelings, capable of providing relief and understanding to human experiences. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, poetry was used to express pain, hope, and the desire for spiritual elevation. Dante Alighieri, with his “Divine Comedy,” created an inner journey that many interpreted as a path to the healing of the soul. Many doctors have recognized the power of poetry. William Carlos Williams, in addition to being a great modernist poet, was also a doctor, and in his writings, he managed to intertwine the two professions. For him, the word was a means of healing just as much as medicine. John Keats, the famous romantic poet, was a pharmacist and a medical student before fully dedicating himself to poetry. His sensitivity to human pain is reflected in his verses, which are still read today for their emotional power.
More recently, the concept of “poetry therapy” has been developed in the field of psychotherapy. Poet and psychotherapist Jack Leedy formalized the use of poetry as a therapeutic tool in the 20th century, demonstrating how writing and reading poetry can help patients with psychological disorders process complex emotions. Poetry is a safe space where one can give voice to pain, joy, loss, and hope. In difficult times, reading verses that resonate with one’s emotions can offer comfort and a sense of connection with the human universe. An emblematic example is the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, who with his “Letters to a Young Poet” offered advice that is still considered a beacon for those seeking meaning in their lives. Similarly, Alda Merini’s poems are a cry of pain and redemption, capable of touching the deepest chords of the soul. In recent years, medicine has begun to integrate more and more humanistic tools into patient care. “Narrative medicine,” for example, encourages doctors and patients to use writing to process experiences of illness and healing.
In hospitals and therapeutic centers, poetry workshops are being developed to help people express their emotional experiences. Writing and reading poetry allows one to give shape to unexpressed emotions, fostering a healing process that, while not replacing traditional medicine, becomes a valuable complement to it.
Poetry is, in every sense, a form of medicine for the soul. Whether through reading a sonnet, writing spontaneous verses, or sharing words that reflect one’s inner world, the benefits of poetry on the human psyche are undeniable. Today more than ever, in a fast-paced and often dehumanizing world, returning to poetry means reconnecting with one’s deepest essence and finding in the beauty of words a refuge and a cure.
Perhaps no medicine is more powerful than a verse that can touch the heart.
