For ten years ecological artist and sculptor Ana Flores has been bringing "Poetry of the Wild"—a project that combines poetry, visual art, and nature in an effort to connect people to the land around them—to locations both public and wild. Each installation features a box or sculpture, built by artists and community members using recycled materials, that contains an original or classic poem as well as a journal for passersby to contribute reflections of their own.
Lucy Turner, age ten—who contributed an original poem to this year's Poetry of the Wild installation in Mystic, Connecticut—and her mother, Pam, study a poetry box during this summer's waterfront installation at the University of Connecticut on Avery Point. Box by artist Susan Schultz; poem, "A Human Error," by Nancy Willard.
Inspired by this summer's installation on Avery Point, a runner shares her own contributions to the project. Tree sculpture poetry box by Randall Patterson; poem, "Raven Night Love," by Alexander Waid.
A poetry box located on the Mystic River shoreline during the summer of 2011. Box by Ana Flores, featuring the poem "It is Born" by Pablo Neruda.
Poetry box and poem titled "Sigue Caminando/Keep Walking," both by Ana Flores, included in this summer's installation at the University of Connecticut on Avery Point.
A poetry box by Marnie LaCouture, housing the poem "Roads" by Ruth Bigood, mounted to a tree along the shore of Meadowbrook Pond in Richmond, Rhode Island.
A beach-goer takes in a box built by Victoria Brennan, featuring a quote by writer and environmental conservationist Rachel Carson, at Mitchell College beach in New London, Connecticut.
A poetry box in the New London, Connecticut, public library, part of an installation during the summer of 2012. Box by Ana Flores; poem, "Come Said My Soul," by Walt Whitman.
Visitors to Mystic River inspect a poetry box during the Mystic Arts Center installation in the summer of 2011. Box by Ana Flores, featuring a poem titled "The Blue Blanket" by Sue Ellen Thompson.
Lily Kane, age nine, prepares to recite her poem "The House," featured inside a box at Haley Farm Reserve in Groton, Connecticut, part of this summer's Mystic Arts Center installation. Box by Syma Ebbin and Michael Kane.
Poetry box by Diane Barcelo and poem by Michael Bradford titled "It is the Silk that Rustles," part of this summer's installation on Avery Point.
A poetry box built by Ana Flores, featuring a quote by author and environmentalist John Muir, located on the Napatree Point peninsula in Westerly, Rhode Island.