Literary posts growing outdoors in area
-
"Without You the Skyline Isn't Worth It," a poem by Noah Falck, is displayed on a viewer at the Duquesne Incline station as part of the www.isReads.com project. -
A poem by Sophie Klahr, "Quakes, Revolutions," can be seen outside James Simon's studio, Uptown, as part of the www.isReads.com project. -
Brian Foley's poem "Baby Cheeks" is taped to a pole in the Strip District on Penn Avenue near 28th Street, part of the www.isReads.com project.
Share with others:
"Without You The Skyline Isn't Worth It"
By Noah Falck
The night is longer than someone trying on and then peeling off a turtleneck. We watch people steal cars, and they wave goodbye and sometimes wink. How she walks away in her blue jeans and how we watch. These are the nights you thought about in Math class; the stars falling down like padiddles. The streets surround us in a faded block print of April, May and June. You can even feel Spring in the complexity of the underwear drawer. You accept all the drinks from all the people you don't know.
Snatches of poetry and prose continue to pop up around town this week, pasted to a councilman's office door, a bus stop, an artist's studio and the Lawrenceville Moose Lodge.
Called Journal Outdoors, the literary posts grew out of last month's Small Press Festival. Organizers are the Gist Street Reading Series and Keyhole magazine based in Nashville, one of the original Journal Outdoors cities. The other is Baltimore.
Pittsburgh City Council lent its stamp of approval, proclaiming July 21 "Journal Outdoors Day."
Councilman William Peduto, a sponsor of the decree, has posted a poem on his office door.
The idea is to match the subject of the writing with the location, as in posting the prose piece, "Without You the Skyline Isn't Worth It," on the observation deck of the Duquesne Incline's Mount Washington station.
So far, selections have also been posted at:
Sculptor James Simon's studio, 305 Gist St., Uptown; East Liberty PAT bus station, Penn Avenue and Penn Circle East; Moose Lodge, 120 51st St., Lawrenceville; Point State Park on the locked men's room door; a telephone pole near the Midwife Center, 2825 Penn Ave., Strip District; Gypsy Cafe, 1330 Bingham St., South Side; Frick Park Dog Run, East End; and the National Aviary, North Side.
Plans call for future postings at PPG Place, Pittsburgh International Airport and Mr. Small's Barbershop, Garfield.
First Published August 5, 2009 12:00 am
