NOT EVERYONE EMBRACES POETRY. I get that.
But I appreciate how, in recent years, poetry has become more accessible to Minnesotans. Perhaps, in the process, a few non-poetry lovers have learned to like poetry, to appreciate its value as a form of expression, as an art, as a link to the past, and as a connection to each other and the land and emotions.
These new public poetry forms have surfaced on sidewalks, billboards, and in motionpoems, for example.
My artsy effort to illustrate this post.
And now, in Mankato and North Mankato, poetry will be posted on signs along biking and walking trails as part of the newly-launched Mankato Poetry Walk and Ride.
I am delighted to have two of my poems—“Off to Mankato to ‘get an education’” and “The Thrill of Vertical” selected from among more than 120 submissions for this project supported by business and corporate sponsors and the cities of Mankato and North Mankato.
The contest was open to anyone living within a 45-mile radius of Mankato with suggested themes of CityArt sculptures, Mankato history or culture, nature and/or family and relationships. Lines were limited to sixteen with a maximum of forty characters per line. There were serious and humorous divisions for adults and general poems for several youth brackets.
I tapped into my past, my four years attending college in Mankato—Bethany Lutheran and Minnesota State University, Mankato—to write my winning poems:
Off to Mankato to “get an education”
With typewriter and suitcase
stashed in the trunk of the rusty Impala
alongside my blaze orange backpack,
I plow into Mankato from the farm.
Seventeen years old with barn scent
clinging to clothes, I settle in
with my cheerleader roommate
and her sprawling stereo system.
We share nothing in common,
except a love of art, hers visual,
mine an artful appreciation of words
clacking, line by line, upon paper.
Remember, this was the late 70s, dear readers.
You’ll need to visit Mankato to read my second poem, among the 27 selected during anonymous judging by Doris Stengel, past president of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies, and by Peter Stein, League of Minnesota Poets youth chairperson. The poems are expected to be in place by the end of June.
As a bonus, poets are recording their poems so bikers, walkers and others can pause along the trails and hear the poems read via their phones.
Bonus two, the Southern Minnesota Poets Society, which coordinated the contest, is publishing a chapbook of the winning poems.
I don’t have details yet on where my poetry will be located. But, be assured that when the poems are posted, I’ll head to Mankato to check mine out and some of the twenty-five others like “Everything is Sky Tonight,” “The Sounds of the Red Jacket Trail” and “Night Fishing.”
JUNE 11 UPDATE: My poems will be posted at the intersection of Glenwood Avenue and Division Street and at Hiniker Pond Park in Mankato.
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
many do not remember Poetry has historically been one of the most powerful agents in societies. Most schools barely even teach poetry let alone introduce it to students. How sad.
How right you are on that historical aspect of poetry and on the absence of much poetry in education.
Well congratulations again!!! That is wonderful news!! And well deserving. So happy that you found out and shared the good news with us. You are well on your way to having your own book of poetry —–i will be first in line to buy one. 🙂
Thank you so much, Beth Ann. It’s always exciting to get one’s work accepted for publication, and especially so via an innovative project like this.
[…] art: Bringing poetry to recreational trail users in Mankato & I’m in (MN. Prairie […]
Congratulations! Lovely images in the poem. Made me think of my first college roommate – the quietest person I’ve ever met in my life. Love the picture of the bike.
Rhonda, my first college roommate (whom I write about in this poem), was quite the opposite of me, on the surface. Bubbly. Beautiful blonde. Athletic. But she was the sweetest and most loving person. She died several years ago of cancer, the second of my college roommates to die at a young age. Still saddens me to think of Rhonda and Kim gone. I have the memories, though. The memories.
Wow, the second one – how sad. I didn’t stay in touch with my freshman roomie – but my sophomore/junior one is still one of my best pals and I’m in touch with my senior one, too. Such a crazy thing, being thrown in with a stranger…
Yes, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, that being thrown in with a stranger.
Congratulations, Audrey! I was excited to see your name among the winners. We hope to increase the number of signs (and winners) next year now that the project is off the ground, keep the ink flowing.
Thank you, Derek. I recognized a few of the names and feel in good company.
I appreciate all the effort you and Yvonne and other members of the Southern Minnesota Poets Society have invested in this unique poetry project. Can’t wait to see the poems in place.
Be assured that poetic words will continue to flow from my brain to my fingers onto the keyboard, to the screen and, hopefully, in to print somewhere. Thank you for the opportunity offered to poets in the region.
How COOL is that – Congrats – love it!!!
It is pretty cool, isn’t it? I just recorded my two poems the other day.
I need to get back into poetry – loved it in my 20s.
Poetry has evolved a lot and I think you will find it much more enjoyable today. That said, I really only like poetry that I can understand.