Poems hang from the rafters across Seattle as part of 'Poetry in Place'

Across the city of Seattle, poems from local writers are on display in storefronts, libraries, and office buildings. The public displays are part of "Poetry in Place," a project from Seattle Civic Poet Shin Yu Pai.

"Poetry in Place" arrives just in time for April, which is National Poetry Month. Pai received 51 entries from the public based on the concept of sustainability.

"I ended up picking five different poems that were very specific to different places in the city," Pai said.

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"I got a poem that was about Seattle Public Library, one that was about displacement in the Central District, one that was about urban beekeeping, and one that was related to Little Saigon," Pai said. "So each of those poems are very place specific. And so there was a lot of thought that went into how to display those with partners in the community."

At an installation at the Seattle Municipal Tower downtown, wide sheets of paper hang over wood dowels. The poem on display is called “Atmospheric River,” by Bryan Wilson.

Excerpts of his poem were printed out on architectural plotter paper and then cut and suspended on dowels so that the banners of paper are cascading down to the floor, mimicking rain and currents.

Wilson "specifically sent me a poem that was about atmospheric rivers and the kind of weather patterns that we experienced here in Seattle that are very wet and damp," Pai said.

Pai worked with designer Jayme Yen to display the poems. In addition to "Atmospheric River" at Seattle Municipal Tower, there are poems at Wa Na Wari in the Central District, the Downtown Central Library, Slide Gallery in Belltown, Friends of Little Saigon, The Bureau of Fearless Ideas in Greenwood and the South Park Library.

"I've learned that a lot of people write poetry, but they might not share it," Pai said. "That was apparent from the call for entries, the variety people that I got submissions from who weren't like poets with MFAs and books, they were people straight from the community."

Listen to Soundside’s full conversation with Shin Yu Pai by clicking the play icon at the top of this story.