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2003 Poetry for the HART Winners    

Title: Conversations With an Empty Room

Poet:  Alison Smith (Half Hollow Hills High School West, Grade 12, Age 17)

Other Collaborators:  AB Graphics (Placard Designer); Sponsored by King Kullen

Year of Creation:  2003

Medium:  Poem digitally printed on laminated placard

Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD):  11 x 24 in.

Description:   Teen poem printed on laminated placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system. 

Markings/Inscriptions:  
...Darkness bleeds through
My window...
...Memories creak
As I stumble on today...
To be alone...
Is to have a conversation...
With an empty room...
It's those times...
...I cry on the floorboards
And answer to the echo...
Of my own sighs...
...Calling to the silence
...Between them...

Street/Site Location:  HART Bus System

Owner/Administrator:  Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)

Title: Home

Poet:  Steven McCasland (Half Hollow Hills High School West, Grade 11, Age 16)

Other Collaborators:  AB Graphics (Placard Designer); Sponsored by King Kullen

Year of Creation:  2003

Medium:  Poem digitally printed on laminated placard

Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD):  11 x 24 in.

Description:   Teen poem printed on laminated placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system. 

Markings/Inscriptions:  
He brushes his long hair from his eyes
As he turns to push away the approaching sun.
The snow, not yet melted, crunches beneath his feet.
The taste of a burnt cigarette remains;
It is asleep on his lips.
In the wind the skeleton of a tree sways gently.
Nothing except the sound of his feet can be heard.
There are no leaves to rustle.
Once again, he is tired from the walk to nowhere.
He turns home and drifts to sleep,
The hard wooden park bench pressed
Against his back.
It chills him to the bone.
But he is home.
Home.

Street/Site Location:  HART Bus System

Owner/Administrator:  Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)

Title: I Never Knew

Poet:  Sara Kravet (Half Hollow Hills High School East, Grade 9, Age 14)

Other Collaborators:  AB Graphics (Placard Designer); Sponsored by King Kullen

Year of Creation:  2003

Medium:  Poem digitally printed on laminated placard

Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD):  11 x 24 in.

Description:   Teen poem printed on laminated placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system. 

Markings/Inscriptions:  
You never know the value of life,
Until it is taken away

You never know if it is your last goodbye,
Until you can say no more

You never know when to end the fight,
Until it is your last

You never know the meaning of one,
Until you have lost two

You never know the meaning of two,
Until two thousand are gone

You never know the worth of freedom,
Until your thoughts are silenced

You never know how to go on living,
Until you know the value of life

I never knew the value of life,
Until after September 11th.

Street/Site Location:  HART Bus System

Owner/Administrator:  Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)

Title: My Heart Runs Wild

Poet:  Beth McNerlin (Upper Room Christian School, Grade 9, Age 14)

Other Collaborators:  AB Graphics (Placard Designer); Sponsored by King Kullen

Year of Creation:  2003

Medium:  Poem digitally printed on laminated placard

Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD):  11 x 24 in.

Description:   Teen poem printed on laminated placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system. 

Markings/Inscriptions:  
Like the breeze
Like the deer in the woods
My heart beats the blood of a wild horse
My heart longs to be running uncontrolled

Flying carelessly over the seas
Running like a robber with all the goods
Except not looking back to make the matter worse
Running so thirstfully bold

My heart is untamed
My heart is passionately pumping the blood of no
    normal human being
Running wild with full force
Toward my final destination
Reaching my one and final goal

Going no completely unnamed
So fast I go now fleeing
Never running off course
Running to get away from the frustration

You can never stop me, for my heart runs wild

Street/Site Location:  HART Bus System

Owner/Administrator:  Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative) 

Title: Puerto Rico

Poet:  Elizabeth Ortiz (Huntington High School, Grade 9, Age 14)

Other Collaborators:  AB Graphics (Placard Designer); Sponsored by King Kullen

Year of Creation:  2003

Medium:  Poem digitally printed on laminated placard

Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD):  11 x 24 in.

Description:   Teen poem printed on laminated placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system. 

Markings/Inscriptions:  
Let me take you to Puerto Rico.
A place where there are sweet and delightful mangos.
The refreshing water is so cool.
You can sit in the warm sun.
You can see the jumpy dogs run into the water.
The people sell cool water on the streets.
The feeling of the cool air passing you as you drive.
Driving on the scary roads.
Hearing the beeping of the cars on the way up the 
   mountain.
And all you see are the empty houses.

Street/Site Location:  HART Bus System

Owner/Administrator:  Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative) 

Title: The Big Apple

Poet:  Daniel Hashim (Upper Room Christian School, Grade 10, Age 16)

Other Collaborators:  AB Graphics (Placard Designer); Sponsored by King Kullen

Year of Creation:  2003

Medium:  Poem digitally printed on laminated placard

Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD):  11 x 24 in.

Description:   Teen poem printed on laminated placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system. 

Markings/Inscriptions:  
New York, New York... the melting pot of the world.
I'm sure you know New York's fashion
is only rivaled by its passion.
Shopping without stopping.
Clothes of any style, you'll be out there for a while.

Entertainment bombards the crowded streets.
Magic fills the air, everyone's a millionaire.
Sound of the city, no place can beat
Oh have I mentioned the great places to eat.
Smells of any food at any time,
what to choose, where to dine, where to buy the finest
   wine.

Buy it in the street, but it in the store.
Everywhere you go you spend a little more.
That's the beauty of this city,
have you seen the Statue of Liberty?
Fame is the game, the hope of every name.
Broadway plays or Wall Street trades
Come and join the Macy's Day Parades.

Tall and proud the skyscrapers tower
Even when attacked New Yorkers never cower.
The heart of New York could never lose its power.
From a people than none can compare,
with this great city that we share.

Street/Site Location:  HART Bus System

Owner/Administrator:  Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative) 

Title: The Power of Adrenalin

Poet:  Rachelle Haff (Upper Room Christian School, Grade 10, Age 16)

Other Collaborators:  AB Graphics (Placard Designer); Sponsored by King Kullen

Year of Creation:  2003

Medium:  Poem digitally printed on laminated placard

Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD):  11 x 24 in.

Description:   Teen poem printed on laminated placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system. 

Markings/Inscriptions:  
Adrenalin is what makes you finish a race when you're
   ready to drop.
It's the surge of power that goes through your body
When your bat hits the ball.
Or when you throw yourself across the room to keep
The basketball in bounds.
It's a mind set that goes from your mind through your
Entire body to give you enough energy to spike the
Ball over the net.

A is for Attitude.
D is for Drive.
R is for how to React.
E is for Energy.
N is for Now or Never.
A is for Ability.
L is for the Life force it gives you.
I is for Intelligence.
N is for Never giving up.

Once you have all these things, that's when you win.

Street/Site Location:  HART Bus System

Owner/Administrator:  Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative) 

Title: The Topsy-Turvy World That Is Life

Poet:  Rachel Schlesinger (Huntington High School, Grade 12, Age 17)

Other Collaborators:  AB Graphics (Placard Designer); Sponsored by King Kullen

Year of Creation:  2003

Medium:  Poem digitally printed on laminated placard

Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD):  11 x 24 in.

Description:   Teen poem printed on laminated placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system. 

Markings/Inscriptions:  
Dawn on the Orient
Where the air smells of mint and lavender
Where the sun's rays break the foggy mist in the air
Beneath the water's depths lies the oyster
He is wise and has seen the ways of the world
He has seen the growth of the crimson coral
The wolf who roams the beach's shores
His paws sandy, dragging his black gray tail between his
   legs
Head down, teeth shown, saliva dripping from his pink
   mouth
He has seen the raven who flies overhead
He has seen the plentiful fruits plucked by the white
   elephants who walk upon the sandy beaches
Their trunks raised high praising God
Their ivory tusks a colorless white, leaving trails upon the
   sandy shore
The golden spaniel who runs along the water's bank
Barking at the devil cloaked in black
His skull and ghastly grin hidden beneath the dead
    velvet
The oyster has seen the topsy-turvy world that is life
And lays beneath the seaweed
Isolated, alone
Waiting for the coming of man
To take his perilous soul

Street/Site Location:  HART Bus System

Owner/Administrator:  Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative) 

Title: Welcome to NYC

Poet:  Rachel Goldstein (Half Hollow Hills High School West, Grade 9, Age 14)

Other Collaborators:  AB Graphics (Placard Designer); Sponsored by King Kullen

Year of Creation:  2003

Medium:  Poem digitally printed on laminated placard

Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD):  11 x 24 in.

Description:   Teen poem printed on laminated placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system. 

Markings/Inscriptions:  
The roar of the engine subdues all other noise, perhaps
   except the occasional announcement of the pilot

Craning one's neck it is possible to see out of the tiny
   oval window to the world, and to view the setting
   sun, accompanied by the myriad of color

Soon, darkness chokes the sun and wispy clouds turn a
   royal blue black.

The wings tilt, and the nose dives down beneath the
   feathery sea.

Lights flick on, and the grandeur of the skyscrapers
   which seem to be miniature toy houses, proudly
   display their light, making the appearance that one will
   fly directly into a yard filled with tiny Christmas lights.

The city of Broadway, fancy china in elegant restaurants,
   and an infinite amount of hope and opportunity.

A muffled click, then the raspy speaker breaks the
   serenity as the wheels pound the Earth, "Welcome to
   New York City."

Street/Site Location:  HART Bus System

Owner/Administrator:  Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)