If you've followed this blog for any length of time, you'll know that I'm a big fan of the
Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia's
Poetry in Transit program, in which ad cards with poems on them are placed inside Vancouver buses and trains. You'll also know how gonzo-excited I was, then, to have a poem from
The Other Side of Ourselves selected for the 2011-2012 PiT run! The poem in question:
Summer
All day the phone rings. Yes.
Thank you. Not today. Please.
The kettle quivers. Tonight’s chicken
puddles in its melt. Upstairs,
goldfish o the water’s surface.
A forecaster’s voice twirls
on the radio: Sun, sun, sun!
Outside, children buzz and loop
like model airplanes. Newspapers
crackle on the porch. A squirrel
scrambles up a bird feeder.
If someone doesn’t pick
those zucchinis soon, they’ll burst.
"Summer" went up just in time for Fall, in October 2011. At that point, I asked for people who saw my poem to send me a photo of it, in order to confirm it existed. The response I got was fantastic - even after the first couple months (and my confirmation that I'd seen it) the photos kept coming in.
The 2011-2012 poems are coming down at the end of August, to be replaced by the
recently announced 2012-2013 set.
Here then, in celebration of the year of "Summer", are the twenty-nine photos sent in to me since October. Thank you to everyone who sent something, especially Carolyn Churchland - she did a yeoman's job, snapping over 50% of the photos!
I loved receiving the pictures, especially the ones accompanied by a little story of how the poem was found or how the photo was taken. Each was a testament to how this program can brighten a rider/reader's day.
My poem will still be up around Vancouver for a couple weeks, after which it will be moved on to BC Transit buses throughout the province, where it will stay for a year. So folks living in the rest of the province: keep your eyes peeled, and if you spot it know that I'd love to add to my collection.
Here, then, are the big twenty-nine (complete with photographers' notes) in all their redundant glory. Thanks again, everyone!
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October 2011 - Skytrain - Bridget Gilbride
The first sighting! |
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October 2011 - Skytrain - Marc Beaulieu
"It was after the Lions game, we were going to check out Commercial for Halloween fun, and the car was absolutely packed. As we were getting close to the station, our buddy who was with us asked us what we thought the poem meant. So I glance up and there's Rob Taylor at the bottom. Remembering you wanted people to get pics if they saw it, I hurried to get one with my phone before we had to get off. I wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't said anything, because like I said, the car was packed and there were two giant boobs pressing into me. Seriously, two young ladies had gotten on each dressed like a breast and ended up standing next to me." |
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| October 2011 - Skytrain - Marta Taylor |
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November 2011 - 145 Bus - Anthony Jjumba
"The not so good pictures of a very good poem. I was really delighted when saw it on the 145 SFU bus a couple days ago." |
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| November 2011 - 145 Bus - Anthony Jjumba |
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| November 2011 - 145 Bus - Anthony Jjumba |
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January 2012 - ??? Bus - Carolyn Churchland
"I am sure a million people have done this exact same thing." |
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January 2012 - Skytrain - Allison Schein
"I saw your poem on the Skytrain today! I've been looking for it a lot, but I'm usually on the bus, so I hadn't seen it until today. It was funny because I had been sitting for a while, and then I suddenly remembered "Oh, I should look for Rob's poem!" And I looked up across the aisle and your poem was right there! I couldn't believe it. So then I got up to take a picture and was standing really close to the guy sitting under your poem, and had to explain that my friend wrote the poem so he wouldn't think I was totally crazy." |
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| January 2012 - Skytrain - Allison Schein |
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| January 2012 - Skytrain - Allison Schein |
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| January 2012 - 84 Bus - Carolyn Churchland |
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| February 2012 - Skytrain - Carolyn Churchland |
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| February 2012 - Skytrain - Carolyn Churchland |
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| February 2012 - 84 Bus - Carolyn Churchland |
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March 2012 - Skytrain - Carolyn Churchland
"Finally! It had been too long." |
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| April 2012 - Skytrain - Carolyn Churchland |
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| April 2012 - ??? - Carolyn Churchland |
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April 2012 - ??? - Kevin Farrow
"Lighting was a bitch." |
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May 2012 - Skytrain - Carolyn Churchland
"This is your poem on the other side of my train. I didn't want to lose my seat so I didn't get up to take the picture. Trust me, I can recognize it from several cars away!" |
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May 2012 - Skytrain - Ian Smedley
"I read it out loud to everyone on the train... OK, I didn't read it out loud. But I was shameless in taking the picture." |
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| May 2012 - Skytrain - Carolyn Churchland |
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June 2012 - Skytrain - Carolyn Churchland
"I was too lazy to move to the other side to get a better picture. But it's glowing!!" |
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| June 2012 - Skytrain - Carolyn Churchland |
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| June 2012 - Skytrain - Carolyn Churchland |
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| June 2012 - Skytrain - Carolyn Churchland |
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| July 2012 - Skytrain - Carolyn Churchland |
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| August 2012 - Skytrain - Carolyn Churchland |
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| August 2012 - ??? Bus - David Sadler |
2 comments:
Once they've finished showing them off around the province do they give the poets the option of keeping the "ad"?
I think I'll get a few copies to post up around the apartment as crown molding...
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