Walking Poems
Adria Arch, artist and Jessie Brown, poet
2020, printed signs, poetry
The Walking Poetry Project is a collaboration between Arlington residents Adria Arch, visual artist, and Jessie Brown, poet. This installation is designed to encourage passersby to slow down and take in each poem by walking past — or even among — the placards. The physical act of walking and reading invites a different experience of poetry, one that engages not only the mind but the body. The reverse sides of the placards evoke the subject or mood of the poem.
The artists' use of the humble lawn sign is a sly poke at consumerism. For when did we ever see a lawn sign without an advertisement? And what could our world be like if all the signs featured poems, not advertisements?
Adria Arch lives and works in Arlington and is a commissioner for ACAC. Jessie Brown is a poet who lives in Arlington.
Listen
by Jessie Brown
Are you tongue-tied then,
And have you
nothing to give thanks for?
Look. Listen with
your whole pulse, with
each cell you’ve forgotten.
Notice the rabbit in the field. Sun;
blue sky. Blades
of timothy, and cold
sweet clover.
The hawk’s shadow sliding
over the grass, and gone.
Thanks to our supporters
PATHWAYS is supported by grants from the Arlington Cultural Council, a local agency, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, and the National Park Service. Additional support generously provided by donations from individual supporters of the arts and the Town of Arlington.