The Liskeard poem Miriam turned into a song of recovery

A poem covered in scribbled red ink, drafted around a flip chart by a nature group for older people in Liskeard, has ended up somewhere nobody in that room could have predicted. It’s now a song, carried by a young woman who says the process helped her find a part of herself she thought she’d lost for good.

A poem born in a nature group

The Story of the Rabbit and the Spinach began as a poem, written by participants of Nature for Health, a nature-based activity group for older adults. The group is based at Trevillis House in Liskeard and aims to improve people’s mental health through contact with the natural world.

Nature for Health is run by Julia Mason, Molly Martin, and Nicky Snape, who are all members of Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust‘s dementia and older people’s mental health team.

Setting the words to music

The poem found its way to Healing By Nature, a separate group that uses nature to support the health and wellbeing of young adults, run by Peta Temple, an advanced lived experience lead. Miriam, one of the young adults who attends the group, was asked if she would like to set the poem to music and perform it.

It wasn’t Miriam’s first piece written for the group. She had already composed and sung a song documenting her own journey at the planting of a Sycamore Gap sapling at Trevillis House.

Here is the song Miriam wrote and performed, The Story of the Rabbit and the Spinach.

‘I feel I have grown in confidence’

Miriam said engaging with the group had been “like taking a long reflective walk in nature with the part of me I thought I had lost forever.”

“Just like the seeds I have sown and nurtured, I feel I have grown in confidence and have learnt it’s safe to connect with people again,” she said. “The soil has grounded me and now is firmly beneath my feet, and yet the people I have met have taught me how to soar.”

“Experiencing something outside the confinements of a clinical setting has helped me explore new ways to support my wellbeing. I hope this song, and all my songs and poems, help encourage others wherever they may be on their recovery journeys.”

‘A wonderful ambassador for the project’

Peta Temple said Miriam’s journey captured exactly what Healing by Nature is about.

“It is about creating spaces where people feel safe enough to reconnect with themselves, with other people and with their communities, and where recovery can become about building a life rather than simply managing symptoms,” she said.

“What has been wonderful to see is Miriam growing in confidence, finding her voice, starting a new degree course at university, and now wanting to use that voice to give hope to other people. She is a wonderful ambassador for the project, and recently told me that she sees herself as a lighthouse, shining a light for others in recovery. That says far more about the impact of this work than I ever could.”

‘A powerful reflection on our connection to nature’

Julia Mason said everyone taking part in Nature for Health was grateful to Miriam for setting their poem to music.

“Everyone participating in Nature for Health is very grateful to Miriam for setting our poem to music and singing it with such passion and beauty,” she said. “The song is a powerful reflection on our connection to nature, and how this can help us with mental wellbeing.”

Healing by Nature and Nature for Health support people across Cornwall to improve their health and wellbeing through outdoor activities, creative projects, and opportunities to connect with nature.

📷The Nature for Health group's handwritten notes behind The Story of the Rabbit and the Spinach. Credit: Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust