Site-Specific Poetry

Twelve poets were commissioned to create new works inspired by scenes in several Shoreline parks.

These poems, like those from the Tang Dynasty (618–907) tradition—where poets wrote about landmarks previously visited by others—build on a shared sense of place. While grounded in specific locations, the poems explore themes ranging from the fragility of nature to today’s complex cultural and political climate.

“Voices in the Forest” invites a layering of perspectives, creating linked verses over time that deepen our relationship to these public spaces.

Our goal is to center artists as vital interpreters of landscape—locally, regionally, and globally.

Poets and Poems

In each park, signposts feature a brief description of the poetry program along with a QR code linking to the poet’s work - often including an audio recording of the poem, sometimes in multiple languages.

We invite you to read, listen, reflect, and experience Shoreline’s natural environment through the creative and inspired voices of the following poets:

Kristin Alexander
Kilam Tel Aviv
Anne Beffel
Janee J. Baugher
Eileen Walsh Duncan
Mercedes Lawry
Saab Lofton
James B Moore
Hop Nguyen
Jorge Enrique Gonzalez Pacheco
Shin Yu Pai
Raul Sanchez

Locations

Poems are installed in Shoreline parks near distinctive natural features such as glacial erratics and madrone trees. Each of the twelve poems is displayed on a custom-fabricated signpost designed to evoke the aesthetic of Forest Service signage, integrating art into the landscape with subtlety and purpose.

List of poets and poems by location [pdf]

Download maps for a self-guided tour:

Boeing Creek Park [pdf]
17229 3rd Avenue NW
Shoreline, WA 98177

Hamlin Park [pdf]
16006 15th Avenue NE
Shoreline, WA 98155

North City Park [pdf]
19201 10th Avenue NE
Shoreline, WA 98155

Paramount Open Space [pdf]
946 NE 147th Street
Shoreline, WA 98155

Translation of the poems was provided by Katherine Wickhorst (Jorge Enrique Gonzalez Pacheco); Eddie Tang (Shin Yu Pai), Raul Sanchez (Raul Sanchez), Hop Nguyen (Hop Nguyen), and Language Link. Readers of poems are the poets themselves, as well as Eddie Tang (Shin Yu Pai in Cantonese), Hervie Autor (poems in Tagalog),  Jin Ting (poems in Korean), and Amal Sheylila (poems in Somali). Joel Kennedy fabricated the sign posts. Lynn Gabrieli spent many hours creating the webpages. To everyone involved, including visitors, thank you so much for the interest and effort during very challenging times.

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Background
To identify and select poets for this project, we invited some with whom we had previously worked and also issued an open call to reach new voices. In the call, we requested poems short enough to be both posted and recorded—14 to 20 lines, plus a title. Selected poems were then laminated and installed on custom-fabricated signposts designed specifically for this project.

"Lost and Found in the Field": Plein-Air Poetry as Public Art
In partnership with Michigan Technological University, three poets from the Voices in the Forest project participated in a webinar panel exploring multiple perspectives on a single subject: a willow tree in Paramount Open Space. The poets—MTU’s Professor Anne Beffel, Raúl Sánchez, and Hop Nguyen—read their works in multiple languages and discussed the creative process, contrasting their experiences and approaches. The conversation was facilitated by Professor Carlos Amador and David Francis.
The full webinar (1 hour) is available [here]—scroll forward 3 minutes to reach the official beginning.

We welcome your comments at artentry@shorelinewa.gov or on our Facebook page.

The project was made possible through a grant from the Washington State Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.