A reckless poem crushed between ads —
there’s nothing to see here, folks.
Keep moving.
__________
I’m not done writing tool odes, yet, don’t worry! I just got this other idea for what will probably be a shorter series — poems to be placed in public spaces, written with an awareness of their contexts. I’d welcome suggestions of other locations for these poems.
For examples of actual public poems, see the archives of NYC’s Poetry in Motion project, the Pennsylvania Center for the Book’s Public Poetry Project, and especially the CityPoem World Index at the New Urbanist website ErasmusPC.
OTHER POSTS IN THE SERIES
- Poem for Display in a City Bus
- Poem for Display in a Subway Car
- Poem for Display at a City Reservoir
- Poem for Display in a Veterans’ Memorial Park
- Poem for Display in a Public Library
- Poem for Display in a Hospital Waiting Room
- Poem for Display in a Municipal Building
- Poem for Display in an Abandoned Factory
- Poem for Display in an Inaccessible Location
- Poem for Display at a Police Checkpoint
- Poem for Display Above the Urinals in a Men’s Restroom
- Poem for Display in a Vacant Lot
- Poem for Display in a Shopping Mall Food Court
- Poem for Display in a Housing Project
I quite like these short bits, Dave. Go where the muse takes you.
This is pretty gory, so don’t look, but there is an affinity: it is in the category of paper accidents.
Pete – Thanks!
Bill – Whoa. Gives “paper cut” a whole new meaning, doesn’t it?
:->
I quite like the idea, and the links. Portland has Poetry in Motion, on our buses (taken after a Milwaukee project, I believe) and a Poetry Bridge walk series, which I have failed to participate in. But those are impermanent…paper in the bus and virtual on the walk…
These, written in space, are another thing altogether.
Who said “poets are traiters”, first, or recognizably…don’t take it wrong :-) , you know what I am so poorly trying to say.
I think the library poem would be lovely inscribed in glass or metal or wood at the check-out queue or building entrance…
deb, thanks. I don’t know who originally said that about poets being traitors, if anyone. I had the impression I was paraphrasing something, but maybe not.
I actually have very mixed feelings about the official placement of poems. I’d be far less queasy with my words spray-pained somewhere than with the kind of permanent inscription you describe. Thanks for the kind thought, though.
Nice idea you have for a blog here.