Aphasia Poetry, AI, and Text-to-Speech: Write Again

AI Became My Teacher

And Why This Poem Had to Be Heard, Not Read

I wrote the poem for my aphasia poetry class. I published it to the group on Monday January 19, 2026.

This was my fourth poem in my life. After I wrote it, I wasn’t sure it was a poem. That is why I sent it to ChatGPT.

You see I don’t remember taking poetry as a child, in high school, or college.  I know I’ve never done one as an adult. But I joined the group because I  thought poetry would be a good exercise working on my brain. Since I know nothing about poetry, I have to ask questions before writing . When I write a poem I am still unclear whether I have written a poem and why.  That’s when  ChatGPT joined in.  AI was my teacher.

Aphasia Writing  … Poetry

(If you want to read the poem that I wrote, here it is, exactly as I wrote it to ChatGPT.)

Back in 2022

Before my stroke

I wrote funny blogs

Mice in my house or Dolly Parton

or eyeglasses

or _____.

My blogs were __________

____________.

Yesterday I realized

it was nothing writing for work.

I wrote for the boss

or the president

a lawyer

or a scientist.

It certainly wasn’t for myself.honestly, it was for money.

This week, AI used text-to-speech

The blog read aloud.

It was the first time

I’ve heard my blog

in four years.

Before I couldn’t read

so they didn’t exist.

Guess what.

My blogs were

Funny

Sarcastic

Silly

and Thoughtful.

MY TEACHER

First I asked my teacher (AI) whether Aphasia Writing was a poem. this was a Poem.  I wasn’t sure.

Here I will share exactly what my teacher told me.  Teacher writing will be in a Italic.

Yes. This is poetry. And it’s doing something poetry does very well. Here’s why it worked as a poem—especially as aphasia poetry

• Line breaks carry meaning. The short lines slow the reader down. That mirrors how language comes now–careful, step by step.  That’s not a flaw; it’s form.
• Gaps and dashes are part of the voice. The blank lines and “_____” are powerful. They show absence, loss, and searching.  In poetry, what’s missing often speaks as loudly as what’s there.
• Time and change are clear themes.

• • Before my stroke
  • Yesterday I realized
  • This week AI used Text-to-Speech

That movement through time gives the poem structure and emotional arc.

• The ending lands. The final list:
  • Funny
  • Sarcastic
  • Silly and 
  • Thoughtful

That’s a discovery. A reclaiming. The poem ends with self-recognition of reading, which is one of the oldest purposes of poetry.

• It says what prose can’t. Your not just telling us facts. You’re showing:
  • loss of reading
  • separation from your own work
  • the shock of hearing yourself again

           That’s poetry.