Town's first installment of poetry to walk on

The LaConner Arts Commission is happy to announce the installation of the first poem from the “Poetry in the Street Project.”

The short poem “Early Fall” is engraved in bronze letters into a section of sidewalk in front of the La Conner Civic Garden Club butterfly garden on S. Second Street.

Helping to dedicate the inscription last week was the executive director of the Skagit River Poetry Foundation, Molly McNulty, and the mayor of La Conner, Ramon Hayes.

This is the first of four poems scheduled to be included in the Arts Commission goal to bring more than just sculpture to the streets of La Conner.

About two years ago, the commission sought public input as to what poems might be included in the installation. A committee reviewed over 100 poems — which had to be from poets who were no longer living — and selected four. At each location, the bronze lettering will be imbedded into the concrete sidewalk.

The first displays the words of Bill Slater, who died in 2007.

Early fall ...

that day I saw this bee

Gathering what’s Left

of Last summer

Other poems selected are by Robert Sund and Clyde Sanborn and are scheduled to be installed at a later date.

McNulty of the Poetry Foundation said the installation recognizes the importance of poetry and honors the words of the poets every day. “It reminds us that poetry stays alive even after the poet dies and that La Conner has a rich history of the arts, which has been nurtured for decades,” she said.

La Conner hosts the eighth biennial Skagit River Poetry Festival May 15 through 18 opening Thursday night at the new La Conner Elementary School gym at 8 p.m. with readings by Seattle poet Sherman Alexie and La Conner author and resident Tom Robbins.

The exciting line-up of poets includes former Poet Laureate Robert Hass; National Book Award winner Mark Doty, and from Jamaica, Kwame Dawes, and many other notable and well-known writers.

Many of the workshops that will be conducted throughout the weekend will include students from eight school districts, complementing the Poets in the Schools programs that the festival supports.

To date more than a half a million students in all grades from kindergarten through community college have benefited from this literary program.

Volunteers are needed, and for more information about the Skagit River Poetry Festival, visit their web site at http://www.skagitriverpoetryfestival.com.