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'Big Pharma' in Shropshire!
This week's big Poetry Pharmacy news is our move to an industrial unit just outside of town, where we can expand our pharmaceutical operations. Production of our prescription meds has outgrown the little lab we opened a year ago, and our airy new space will ensure we can keep well stocked for future poetic emergencies. We're very happy that little lines of poetry are getting into so many hands.
The Art of Medicine with Deb Alma
Our Chief Poetry Pharmacist Deb Alma was invited to speak to an audience of medical practitioners in York on 'Prescribing for Living', in conversation with Dr Nicola Gill as part of a series hosted by the York Medical Society. The series looks at how different art forms can be used as a catalyst to connect and inspire those working in the medical profession. The first year of the series is on the theme Being Human and explores how the creative arts are a natural and instinctive way for humans to connect with others, communicate ideas, educate, entertain and explore thoughts and feelings, often provoking strong emotions and challenging beliefs. Deb and Nicola talked about the healing power of poetry and its place in the arts to improve health and wellbeing, with some guest poetry readings.
New Prescription - Shakespeare's Apothecary
O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies
In herbs, plants, stones, and their true qualities:
For nought so vile that on the earth doth live
But to the earth some special good doth give Romeo & Juliet
Medical practice in the 16th and 17th centuries involved a mix of formal physicians, apothecaries, empirics, and reliance on local wisdom and astrology. Shakespeare displayed a remarkable interest in and knowledge of medicine, evident in the numerous medical references and detailed descriptions of illnesses and ailments throughout his plays and poetry. We enjoyed this essay Shakespeare and medicine: Friar Lawrence for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
Our newest prescription, Shakespeare's Apothecary contains 'capulets' (Deb thinks this joke is funny but we're not sure anyone will get it?) for the treatment for maladies and poisons of the body and mind.
Eye of newt and toe of frog
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble
Shakespeare's son-in-law was a physician, using remedies grown in his vast herb garden to treat his patients, the majority of whom were women. It is thought he advised his father-in-law on medical ailments. The 17th-century garden was recently restored with herbs and plants that would have been used in medicine at the time the 1613 house was occupied by the bard's daughter Susanna and her husband, John Hall. You can read more in this 2022 Guardian article.
You can get your dose of these, or other curative capulets, from our online shop.
Prescription Poetry Raising Funds for Doctors in Distress
Let the beauty we love be what we do
- There are hundreds of ways to
Kneel and kiss the ground
Rumi
Our Poetry Prescription Restore, a salve for the soul and for the resistance to burnout, has raised over £1,000 so far for charity Doctors in Distress and we'd like to thank everyone of you who has purchased a bottle and helped to make this happen.
Healthcare workers are stressed, burnt out and suffering with higher levels of mental health illness than ever before. Doctors in Distress is an independent charity that provides support for all UK based healthcare workers to protect their mental health and prevent suicide. We are proud to have created this curative to bolster funds for this important work. Thanks to all of you who have purchased this bottle and helped support the cause.
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