Location: This 'hidden gem' is located on the west side of Hazel Street N., just south of Stillwater Ave. E, in St. Paul, MN (see the Clue Me! Map). When sidewalks need repair, why not use the opportunity to turn the sidewalk into art? After all, 'It is not carelessness to leave a poem lying around.'

"Everyday Poems for City Sidewalks" is a project developed by Marcus Young, a graduate of Carleton College. Public Art Saint Paul hosts an annual citywide poetry contest to continue to add to the collection. You must be a St. Paul resident in order to submit poetry for this contest.

For a detailed map of the many poems decorating St. Paul sidewalks, and their locations go to:

http://publicartstpaul.org/project/poetry/#about_the_project

To whet your appetite to go find and read more sidewalk poetry ...

A puddle,

where a moth

can shake the sky.

~Kevin Walker

...........

I wanted to tell you the name of the street

where I crashed my bicycle, got my best scar

or how I went walking at sunrise, a treat

to see dawn's great evacuation of stars.

There must be some method, when two people meet,

to explain to each other who we really are.

~Anna Everett Beek

.............

I still look

for your

footprints.

I tell

everybody

this is where

you’re from.

-Ellen Fee

...........

An elder Vietnamese woman

brushes my cheeks with her fingers;

repeating in Vietnamese,

“beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.”

But I don’t know what she thinks is beautiful.

Is it me or what I represent?

The generation of opportunity.

That her generation’s journey was worth it

and the hopes of the passed and left-behind

live on in my generation.

She looks through my eyes like windows

and I look into hers like mirrors.

-Amanda Tran

...........

Pib los ntawn tus dej Mekong

Tuaj txog hauv tus dej Mississippi

Kuv tau ua lub tsev tshiab hauv kuv lub siab

Translation (Hmong to English):

Beginning from the Mekong River

Arriving to the Mississippi River

I have made a new home in my heart

-Grace Xiong

...........

Mittens

Red hands, dirty face, matted hair

the man with his world

in a Target cart shuffles stiffly

past the warm ones

behind reflective glass.

Give him your mittens

my ‘illegal’ Babcia

pleads from the grave.

He is me.

-Mary Schulz

Wow. There are over 1200 poems on St. Paul's sidewalks, all written by St. Paul residents.

So, the next time you are walking on any of St. Paul's sidewalks, keep your eyes peeled for words drifting under your feet.

.........

Here's the hidden gem entry from our Clue Me! map.

Clue

Just lying there for anybody to see

Description

Poem on the sidewalk: "It is not carelessness to leave a poem lying around." ~Susan Downing

Why It's Interesting

There are hundreds of poems published in the sidewalks around St. Paul and its suburbs. Keep your eyes peeled for a sudden burst of poetry from right under your feet.

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