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Big Sidewalk Poetry News!


4/30/20158 years ago

caution sign The information on this page may be outdated as it was published 8 years ago.

The City of Cambridge is pleased to announce the winners of the inaugural Sidewalk Poetry Contest.  Poems written by Cambridge residents Rose Breslin Blake, Benjamin Grimm, Ty Muto, Carolyn Russell Stonewell, and Elissa Warner will be stamped into freshly poured concrete throughout the City during the course of routine sidewalk repairs this year.

 The Sidewalk Poetry Contest, held March 12 - April 12, 2015, attracted over 300 submissions from Cambridge residents. A committee comprised of representatives from the Department of Public Works, Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge Arts, in addition to past Poet Populists and a Cambridge resident selected the winning poems. The winning poets and six runners up have been invited to read at the Poetry Tent at the 36th Cambridge Arts River Festival, June 6, 2015. Runners up include Norman Belanger, Jim Borron, Olga Livshin, J. Philip Miller, Wendy Rosen, and Christian Soderberg.

 “The Sidewalk Poetry Planning and Selection Committee was happy to receive such a strong response to the call for poems and to see a very wide range of ages represented: from 4 to 95 years. We are thrilled to be in partnership with Public Works and the Public Library to bring moments of art durably imprinted into the City’s infrastructure for Cambridge citizens and visitors to encounter in daily life,” said Lillian Hsu, Director of Public Art & Exhibitions at Cambridge Arts.

2015 Cambridge Sidewalk Poetry Contest Winners:

Rose Breslin Blake

Children, look up
Cherish those clouds
Ride grey ponies over their hills
Feed the shiny fish
Boo the big bear
Chase the gloomy giant
Giggle with the geese
Sing with the lambs
Cherish those clouds; they cherish you
Rest on their pillows.

Benjamin Grimm

I could not forget you if I tried.
I have tried.

Ty Muto

Your blue-green glances
My heart skips double dutch beats
Caught in your rhythm

Carolyn Russell Stonewell

Sun takes a bite of
mango as it sets.
Its last rays
run down my cheek.

Elissa Warner

A Mothers Wish

Little boys, little treasures
Shine like lights from above
My son, my only one
My wish for you is that you wake
One day when you are old
And feel raindrops on your cheek
Tears of joy from my heart
For you to keep

The Sidewalk Poetry Program is a collaboration of the Department of Public Works, Cambridge Arts Council, and the Cambridge Public Library.  Poetry Program Selection Committee: Kelly Dunn, Department of Public Works; Andrea Geyer, Cambridge Resident; Lillian Hsu, Cambridge Arts; Jean Deny Joachim, Poet Populist; Skye Lavin, Cambridge Public Library; Chris Neil, Department of Public Works; Peter Payack, Poet Populist; Dan Wuenschel, Cambridge Public Library / Poet.

The Cambridge Sidewalk Poetry Program was inspired by a similar ongoing program in St. Paul, Minnesota, begun in 2008 by artist Marcus Young as artist-in-residence in the St. Paul Department of Public Works.  St. Paul has over 450 poems in St. Paul sidewalks to date.  The Cambridge program will integrate poetry into its routine sidewalk repairs. The fresh concrete necessary when the City pours new sidewalk panels will provide an opportunity to stamp poems in selected locations throughout the City.