You may have caught a stanza here and there, at least I started to two weeks ago during walks to the Battery. They’re embedded in brass in the hex pavers on the bulkhead walkway, climbing up the slats of benches, even behind the backboard of the hoops at the basketball court.
Poets House, in cooperation with the Battery Park City Authority, has installed fragments poems all over the park, from Rockefeller to North Cove and including Teardrop. It’s to celebrate their 10th anniversary, and the Poetry Path also includes online readings and events starting tomorrow at 1p. I found them not just a fun discovery, but really inspiring. And the graphic treatment is spot on.
There are 53 installations from 50 poets, including Martin, who was in the second grade at PS 276 last year when he wrote “Ponds”:
Splashing fishes,
Sleeping turtles,
Dreaming how to fly.
(That was the product of a Poets House program where poet Dave Johnson and artist Felipe Galindo led writing and art workshops for kids from PS 89 and PS 276.) The map is below, but if you use it online here, there is an interactive element that lets you read the entire poem and see a bio of the poet.
The Poetry Path begins opposite the Poets House front door, but start anywhere. It’s really fun to discover them by accident.
Thank you Poet’s House. These fragments are a wonderful distraction.