NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue joined The Poetry Society of America Executive Director Matt Brogan, poet Edward Hirsch and students from P.S. 676 and Summit Academy Charter School Tuesday to celebrate five new installations bringing poetry to New York’s public parks through the “Park Poems” initiative, including one in the Bronx’s own Clason Point Park.
Gathering at Valentino Pier in Red Hook, Brooklyn, attendees were treated to a poetry reading by Hirsch before the unveiling of his poem “I Was Never Able to Pray” on the scenic pier. Before the unveiling, students crafted poems of their own, arranging stanzas out of park-themed Velcro word sets.
“Our public parks are important oases amid the hustle of New York City life, and these poetry installations will invite park patrons to pause, reflect and connect with their environment in new ways,” said Donoghue. “Making beautiful poetry accessible to New Yorkers in all five boroughs fits perfectly with our mission at NYC Parks, and I am grateful to The Poetry Society of America for their partnership on this project.”
“Park Poems” is a new initiative that transforms poems into site-specific works of public art. Installed in harmony with the surrounding landscape and park infrastructure, the poems collectively focus on the theme of reflection, inviting parkgoers to pause and contemplate.
“Literature is the most democratic art form, and when we place poems in public spaces, we affirm that democratic spirit, creating opportunities for people from all backgrounds to encounter imaginative language in unexpected and intimate ways,” said Brogan. “Nowhere is that promise more abundant than in our public parks.”
In this first year of the project, the Poetry Society and NYC Parks are displaying poems at five public parks across each borough. The Bronx’s Clason Point Park will display “Twilight” by W.S. Merwin. Hirsch’s “I Was Never Able to Pray” is featured at Valentino Pier Park in Brooklyn. Manhattan’s Sunken Playground is now home to “Oscura luz/Dark Light,” in English and Spanish, by Franciso X. Alarcón, “我坐在這裡 / I Sit Here,” in Chinese and English, by Liu Xia is displayed at Clove Lakes Park in Staten Island and “Six Tankas” by Harryette Mullen is featured at Francis Lewis Park in Queens.
“It was a thrill to see my poem unveiled here today,” said Hirsch. “My poem has been beautifully inscribed and reinvented in this installation, split into lines that spread like waves across the pier. This is the perfect place for my poem, which is all about sending my voice out across the waves. Encountering poetry in daily life, not in a classroom or museum — that seems to be the dream of poetry in American life.”
The installations will remain on view for approximately one year. The poets selected hail from around the world, and non-English poems are presented in both the original language and English translation.
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