Nick FranchiniIAF Library

Enough? A poem

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This poem can help bridge diversity in a group.

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Goal

The poem is designed to galvanise a team at the start of a workshop with a sense of solidarity and 'carpe diem' (seize the day). This could also be described as a refresh or reset for a group.

Attachments

Materials

    Instructions

    Considerations

    This poem is about the universal aspiration or experience of bridging the boundaries that may exist between people. Boundaries stemming from different and even contrasting experiences (e.g. different types of expertise, cultures, levels of seniority, generation gaps or genders). 

    Reading the poem is meant to bring about a shared sense of togetherness in order to seize the day. 

    With the help of a customised introduction to connect the poem to your session, this poem works by acknowledging many different ways the word 'enough' gets used at work. Both positively and negatively. 

    The poem is not idealistic or romantic but rather very real. 

    The first time the poem was used, it was read aloud by a VIP guest, the Town Cryer in an English country town in Yorkshire. 

    The Process

    Introduce the poem with an appropriate reference to the purpose and context for your session and its participants. 

    IT IS best to read the poem aloud. To maximise the impact invite the listeners to relax and close their eyes during the rendition. FOR THE BEST IMPACT the reader SHOULD take their time so that THE POEM'S meaning can sink in. 

    At the end of the reading, feel free to improvise based on the feeling in the room. But, keep it simple. 'Don't overegg the pudding' (idiom). The poem is a series of open questions and we want to keep open, any doors that have been opened, for the rest of the session and perhaps the longer term project behind it.

    Background

    Developed by Convivial Experiences (UK) www.convivialexperience.com

    The poem was inspired by the poems 'If' by Rudyard Kipling and 'Go all the way' by Charles Bukowski.

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