Literature therapy tells us that every literary work: a short story, a novel, a poem or even a song lyric, acts as a mirror. We see ourselves in it. We only notice and read out from it what belongs to us, what we can relate to in some way. The poem reflects our personality in a special way. It's like a cosmetic magnifying mirror in which we can only see details, but very clearly.
Have you ever observed your face or iris in a mirror very closely? It has your whole life, your whole personality in it, in your current state.
The shorter poems, haiku or therapeutic poems, because of their brevity and compactness, work like mantras in the soul. They quickly settle into your consciousness, into your soul, you savour them, repeat them until they release the tension in you. They echo back and forth, echo in your heart in the most unexpected situations, accompanying you for as long as you need them. Mantras work in the same way, except that in the Eastern tradition, mantra lyrics always carry an elevated quality, a higher energy.
However, I have learned that every word in a poem has a role to play. You can never put unnecessary words in a poem, so each word has a special role, and in shorter poems, it is especially true for shorter poems.
A few years ago, I needed a haiku. I only remembered the mood and knew who wrote it. I knew clearly that only those few lines could help my condition at the time. I found it, learned it - there were three lines in total  - and decided to use it as a mantra. I retired to my bedroom, locked the door behind me and began to mumble, repeating it 108 times in a row, like a mantra. Barely audible at first, but I listened carefully to understand the exact meaning of the words. I listened to the feelings that the words evoked in me, to the part of my soul to which they led. Then I chanted louder and louder, curious, sad, angry, determined, maybe even indifferent towards the middle, but by the time I got to the end, something had changed inside me.
I'm not saying that this drastic process is necessary every time. Sometimes it just feels good to have a poem with you, it warms your heart, lifts you up, opens your eyes.
Either way, an appropriate poem always helps, like a good therapist.

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