Poetry Connects Us By The Hear
- Dec 2
- 3 min read
By Teri Petz
I always liked poetry since I was very young and have been writing for many, many years. Poetry is what I write most of the time and I am convinced that poetry is the language of the heart. I have been participating in a small circle of women led by Cat Charissage, who became a very good friend over time. We gather monthly to read poetry and to journal about our experiences reading the poems one of us selected. We take turns to prepare the poetry and also to read the poems and after writing, we share what we wrote. Being a small, accepting, non judgemental and very supportive group we connect deeply and some of our shares are very healing because there is always understanding and support. Participating in the circle, my belief in the healing power of words has deepened and it keeps being reaffirmed as we keep sharing our thoughts, and feelings. Our friendship has grown into a sisterhood and we support each other every way we can.
In June, 2018, after we had taken a summer break from the gatherings, missing being involved with poetry, I started hosting monthly poetry open mic events in July, at the Owl Acoustic Lounge in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. The Owl as we call it in a short form is very kind to support local grassroots folks and gives many artists an opportunity to host events. What I didn’t know when I started hosting is that doing so would lead me to an amazing experience in meeting local poets from all walks of life and the diversity of poets and topics would move me beyond words. I am very touched by the power of poetry every month. We had the pleasure to hear new, experienced poets and everything between the two ends of the spectrum. We had a sixteen year old girl with the mind and heart of a sage read, we heard a gentleman in his eighties, who never spoke into a microphone all his life. The night he did, he had us moved to tears as he spoke of his departed wife he loved so dearly. I believe our youngest poet was about eight years old, who also had us in tears as he talked about his parents’ divorce. We keep hearing about the challenges, the joys the poets face, and witness people searching for meaning in everyday life. There were many times I said that you can feel the love in the room and we leave the event heard, connected and grateful!
My goals as they developed over the years were to share our poems with the public, make the event all inclusive and to give people a voice. I can say that I reached all those goals and much more. We honour, support and celebrate each other. We understand the courage it takes to be up on that stage. I hope that this support continues for a long time. Over the years many of us connected with each other and formed lasting, meaningful friendships at the Owl and in my friend, Cat’s group.
I don’t think those connections would have happened without the deep and real conversations that poetry gives us, as Cat often says. I firmly believe in those deep and real conversations and find them a necessary part of my life and am grateful for every one of them.
Bio: Teri Petz was fascinated by poetry since she was a little girl, before she could read and was happy when she recited poetry. She self published her poetry books, A Piece Of Her Heart in 2020 and Moments Of Grief in 2021. Teri organizes and is the MC of Owl Poetry, a monthly open mic event at the Owl Acoustic Lounge in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada and started Zoom open mic events in October 2025 around the theme of encouragement, because we all need encouragement sometime.
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