[Maryann Corbett]

I considered posting this on the Good News thread, but I thought it deserved publicity of its own. Hat tip to Melissa Balmain, whose link on Facebook brought it to my attention.

A Box on All Your Houses: The Spread of Poetry Boxes and How You Can Get Involved

[Ann Drysdale]

Once upon a time I carried out a project for the (then) Welsh Academy, called "Poems in Public Places". I chose them, sought permissions, copied and enlarged them, trailed around the area locating them and kept duplicates as back-up. I have a folder of laminated A3 copies and I prop one at random in my window from time to time.

My house has no pavement (sidewalk) between the front door and the road and people often sneak a peek in, getting all embarrassed when I catch their eye and wave. My window was one of the original locations and this was the piece I chose for it (and for the curious). It's from a poem called Truly Great by W H Davies and the solicitors managing his estate waived payment, saying that WHD would have loved the idea.

MY walls outside must have some flowers,
My walls within must have some books;
A house that’s small; a garden large,
And in it leafy nooks:

A little gold that’s sure each week;
That comes not from my living kind,
But from a dead man in his grave,
Who cannot change his mind...
.

[Maryann Corbett]

That's a charming poem, Ann, and a laudable project. Actually, the Twin Cities has at least a couple of other projects of public poetry, sponsored by the organization Public Art Saint Paul. We've had sidewalk poems--pressed into the concrete--for years now, and we'll soon have poems on the buses and trains. In both projects, the poems are chosen from contest entries.

[Melissa Balmain]

Maryann & co... thought you might be interested in this little piece on poetry boxes that I just published in Live Happy magazine:

http://www.livehappy.com/practice/poetry-box

My own box is still going strong! Just this a.m. I watched a man stop, read Marilyn Taylor's "Snow Mist," and walk away chuckling.