Volume 9, Number 1, 1999
Poetry in motion
My pie plates turn up at church suppers,
My fishing lures are drying on Briske’s grass.
Last week I sent my cat to be someone’s mouser
And now her eyes glow like flashlights
From the neighbor’s basement windows. Objects blow
Back and forth among us in an erratic tradewind.
Here comes Mrs. Sorensen on her bicycle, wearing
Three rain hats, waving an umbrella for me.
She’s old enough to be my mother, but
She still tips dangerously, first to one side,
Then to the other. I try to memorize it,
How she keeps her balance.
These lines from one of Jeanne Murray Walker’s well-known Aunt Joe poems have been chosen to be part of the Poetry in Motion project, sponsored by the Poetry Society of America. Working in collaboration with graphic artists and the transit authorities in 10 cities nationwide, Poetry in Motion provides posters of illustrated poems for display in public buses and subway cars. Walker’s words were chosen for posting in SEPTA transit vehicles in Philadelphia, her hometown. The poems, designed to give weary commuters a lift, are displayed next to signs for life insurance, legal services and allergy relief. “It’s neat to have my poems traveling around Philadelphia,” Walker, UD professor of English, says. “Poetry has now made it on public transportation!”