The Sweetest Distraction

Abstract

Two poems are the centerpiece of this article, the first exploring the meaning and role of music in the life of Irene, a 67-year-old. Irene is one of nine older Australians (aged 63-79) who were interviewed for multiple case studies examining the meaning and role of music in the lives of older Australians. As I analyzed the interview material to draw out central themes of each participant’s lived musical experience, I became acutely aware that Irene’s words were filled with lyricism, rhythm, and metaphor unlike the words coming from the other participants. This led me to writing a narrative poem using Irene’s words as the content of the poem. The rationale for using this particular type of poem to re-present empirical material will be discussed, along with an autoethnographic poem that presents my experience as a researcher with Irene, and subsequently as a musician with Irene. This poem begins to explore the blurring of my roles as researcher with Irene, musician with Irene, and being a friend to Irene.