You Are Here: Poetry in Parks at Everglades

This picnic table, located in the parking lot of the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center, is an art installation by the 24th U.S. Poet Laureate, Ada Limón. Limón selected June Jordan's poem "Ecology" for this poetry installation as part of her signature project "You Are Here: Poetry in Parks." The project includes additional installations at six other national parks.
 

Ecology

By June Jordan

When I came back after a few days away
my return terrified a huge
marsh hawk
his new nest next to my front door
Twice that happened:
He explodes with a powerful shuffling
of feathers
aimed in a 45-degree angle that leads
to the sky above the sea
If I go away again
(big as he is)
I wonder which one of us will be
the more surprised?

^{June Jordan, “Ecology” from Directed by Desire: The Collected Poems of June Jordan, Copper Canyon Press. Copyright © Christopher D. Meyer, 2007. Reprinted by permission of the Frances Goldin Literary Agency.}

 

What Would You Write in Response to the Landscape Around You?

You Are Here, the signature project of the 24th U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, invites you to explore the relationship between language and the natural world through the words of poets and your own imagination.

Use #YouAreHerePoetry to share your thoughts!