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Title: Inanimate Ignorance
Poet: Jason Argeseanu (Walt Whitman High School, Grade 12, Age 17)
Other Collaborators: AB Graphics (Placard Designer)
Year of Creation: 2016
Medium: Poem digitally printed on styrene placard
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 x 24 in.
Description: Teen poem printed on styrene placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system.
Markings/Inscriptions:
The chalkboard,
scribbled and scrabbled on,
covered with the calcite
it was designed to display.
Yet calculated on,
construed on,
by Einstein’s prodigy.
Nuclear physics,
Relativity,
Modernity,
framed on indifference.
Scratched on a panel
oblivious
to the marvels
tattoed on its skin.
Street/Site Location: HART Bus System
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)
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Title: He’s a Musician
Poet: Jessica Bansbach (Walt Whitman High School, Grade 12, Age 17)
Other Collaborators: AB Graphics (Placard Designer)
Year of Creation: 2016
Medium: Poem digitally printed on styrene placard
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 x 24 in.
Description: Teen poem printed on styrene placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system.
Markings/Inscriptions:
It seems that in praising him
I have created a codeword
Of candy-coated bigotry.
Downed sweetly with wine, they instead hear:
“He’s not like the other members of his race.”
The caged Hispanic sings
Because it’s the only way we’d ever want to hear him.
The poster child smoothed and shopped
To remove his frays.
Hard work is more marketable behind the face of Hammerstein
Than the counter of a convenience store.
Street/Site Location: HART Bus System
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)
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| Title: Some Fears
Poet: Julia Canigiani (Walt Whitman High School, Grade 12, Age 17)
Other Collaborators: AB Graphics (Placard Designer)
Year of Creation: 2016
Medium: Poem digitally printed on styrene placard
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 x 24 in.
Description: Teen poem printed on styrene placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system.
Markings/Inscriptions:
Peanut brittle
and spiders,
mixed with a little bit of
false hope.
People who bite
their ice cream
and don’t prefer
a type of music,
or prefer anything at all.
The man who thinks
he has it all figured out –
a ten-year plan
for the future.
Street/Site Location: HART Bus System
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)
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Title: Be Brave and Be Kind
Poet: Kelsey De Rosa (Walt Whitman High School, Grade 12, Age 17)
Other Collaborators: AB Graphics (Placard Designer)
Year of Creation: 2016
Medium: Poem digitally printed on styrene placard
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 x 24 in.
Description: Teen poem printed on styrene placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system.
Markings/Inscriptions:
Be Brave and Be Kind
But be your own Kind
Your own kind of beauty
Your own kind of fight
Fight for your love
And fight to bring light
Light to a world that doesn’t know Kind
Be Kind and Be Brave
And do not be afraid
To show your true heart
Because it can save
Save those who you love
And those who are not Brave
Brave is not the absence of fear
It is the voice that says “it will not keep me here”
When you look into my eyes, what will you find?
I hope what you see is Brave and is Kind.
Street/Site Location: HART Bus System
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)
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Title: Huntington
Poet: Jocelyn Early-Hubelbank (Harborfields High School, Grade 10, Age 15)
Other Collaborators: AB Graphics (Placard Designer)
Year of Creation: 2016
Medium: Poem digitally printed on styrene placard
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 x 24 in.
Description: Teen poem printed on styrene placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system.
Markings/Inscriptions:
Initial opinions change
with age
the passing of time
and didactic life
Once I thought this town
small
isolated
unfathomably prosaic
a bubble from which I needed to leave
But life never ceases to amaze me
this town is home
home to my friends
my friends who changed me
who saved me
who opened my eyes
so then I could open my heart
I marvel at chance
or was it fate
that brought me here to my friends?
If I didn’t live in this beautiful bubble
who would I be now?
Street/Site Location: HART Bus System
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)
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| Title: the politics of poetry
Poet: Taylor Fox (Walt Whitman High School, Grade 12, Age 17)
Other Collaborators: AB Graphics (Placard Designer)
Year of Creation: 2016
Medium: Poem digitally printed on styrene placard
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 x 24 in.
Description: Teen poem printed on styrene placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system.
Markings/Inscriptions:
the politics
of poetry
are no less puzzling
than the
pathology of purple states
prospering in an otherwise
polarized democracy
or the mighty pen
declaring victory
over the sword
while defiant actions
claim to speak louder
than words
all the while
love-struck teenagers
find meaning in the ephemera
and go through life
as catch-22s
with red blood cells
in this sea
of contradiction
we call life –
sink or swim
or laugh
trying.
Street/Site Location: HART Bus System
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)
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Title: Outline
Poet: Shayna Greene (Walt Whitman High School, Grade 12, Age 18)
Other Collaborators: AB Graphics (Placard Designer)
Year of Creation: 2016
Medium: Poem digitally printed on styrene placard
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 x 24 in.
Description: Teen poem printed on styrene placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system.
Markings/Inscriptions:
Be the grilled cheese
I look forward to eating
after life throws physics tests
and human inconsideration
at my left ear
like a deafening curve ball.
Be the oversized t-shirt
that consoles me every night
via cotton compassion
and sleeveless judgement.
Be a more politically correct version
of all the Disney movies
that enchanted my heart.
When pigtails were a no-brainer
and a tank top was just a tank top,
be the baby fat
that once kept me warm.
Now that the tooth fairy
has retired to Boca,
be the silver lining on my inner thighs
that coconut oil
and body capitalism
never seem to fade.
I’m talking to you,
the one in the mirror.
You, who are so confident.
You – so vulnerable,
so goofy and sharp,
young and aged.
Be my best friend.
Street/Site Location: HART Bus System
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)
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Title: Welcome
Poet: Shayna Greene (Walt Whitman High School, Grade 12, Age 18)
Other Collaborators: AB Graphics (Placard Designer)
Year of Creation: 2016
Medium: Poem digitally printed on styrene placard
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 x 24 in.
Description: Teen poem printed on styrene placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system.
Markings/Inscriptions:
To the land of almosts and maybes,
to the not-right-nows
and disingenuous maybe laters,
we, the children of false promises,
salute you.
We come from humble beginnings
of adventure and curiosity.
“Why” was once our staple.
We had “no” with our peas and carrots,
“careful” in every forkful.
Now we feast on those scrappy side dishes.
We used to paint with our fingers
and stare up above.
Whether sky or ceiling or human,
everything was an oddity in need of
explanation.
The answers were simpler then.
You screamed and food appeared.
You got hurt
and it was the slide’s fault.
We are a compilation of every
dinosaur chicken nugget
and heart broken lullaby.
We are first steps and first
loves.
We are smudged eyeliner
and once-cherished teddy bears.
And when we welcome our new selves,
we do it
to keep the old ones company.
Street/Site Location: HART Bus System
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)
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Title: Practically Pathological
Poet: Gabrielle Jung (Half Hollow Hills High School West, Grade 12, Age 17)
Other Collaborators: AB Graphics (Placard Designer)
Year of Creation: 2016
Medium: Poem digitally printed on styrene placard
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 x 24 in.
Description: Teen poem printed on styrene placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system.
Markings/Inscriptions:
I’m straighter than an arrow and on the bright and
narrow
Path of punctuality and perfect vision
And I keep my fingers and nails unbitten,
As spotless as my room and mind.
I’ve spent too many sleepless nights curled around a
cup of coffee and a book
With its cover stained by a ring of a too dark brew,
So I stuck a maze of glowing stars and planets on the
ceiling and the walls
Because I love the feeling of an organized kind of
lost.
It’s alright that the light from each star fades away
Every time the sun chases away the moon
And that I cut my finger with a pen-knife trying to
peel away a star from a galaxy
And now there’s a spot of blood staining my ash
white walls.
I’m an open book.
I don’t mind if you want to fold my corners, crowd
my margins with your messy scrawl,
But I hate the look and feel of pen, the metallic,
stinging scent and ink-smeared stub
Biting too deeply into a blank white page.
I don’t want permanence, so please don’t mark me
now.
Street/Site Location: HART Bus System
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)
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Title: Why Proper Grammar Really Does Matter
Poet: Bailey Kaston (Half Hollow Hills High School East, Grade 12, Age 17)
Other Collaborators: AB Graphics (Placard Designer)
Year of Creation: 2016
Medium: Poem digitally printed on styrene placard
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 x 24 in.
Description: Teen poem printed on styrene placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system.
Markings/Inscriptions:
Maintaining grammatical accuracy in our modern
technological society is no simple feat
Auto-correct and text message jargon have rendered it
largely obsolete
Despite the ubiquity of informal conversation today
I dare say a command of the written language remains
an invaluable asset in every way
For example, you receive text messages each from a
different friend
Inviting you to meet over the weekend
Text A: “Lets go 2 the lib 2 prepare 4 are test”
Text B: “Let’s go to the library to prepare for our test”
So, with whom will you choose to study?
It’s clear to me there’s only one appropriate buddy
Which person is more likely to obtain a job position
As secretary, banker, or even physician?
First impressions are pivotal when all is said and done
A poor linguistic grasp may turn a first impression into
an only one
Whether ignorance or carelessness, the result is the
same
The grammatical deficiency we have developed is no
laughing game
The way I see it is that language is an unparalleled tool
To not use it correctly, you’d be a fool
To some, the effort may seem like too big a fuss
But we can only go as far in life as we allow our own
language to take us
Street/Site Location: HART Bus System
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)
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Title: Thoughts of a Child Inventor
Poet: Emma Kongevold (Walt Whitman High School, Grade 12, Age 18)
Other Collaborators: AB Graphics (Placard Designer)
Year of Creation: 2016
Medium: Poem digitally printed on styrene placard
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 x 24 in.
Description: Teen poem printed on styrene placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system.
Markings/Inscriptions:
If only there were a product
to silence the warfare in the home,
to bring the odds to evens
to stop things from being thrown.
If only there were a product
to make the scars disappear,
to make people stop noticing
the red eyes with dried up tears.
If only there were a product
to make him call her again,
to love her and protect her,
just like he did way back when.
If only there were a product
that made us feel less alive,
less human, more machine,
no emotions, only lies.
Street/Site Location: HART Bus System
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)
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Title: Home Sweet Home
Poet: Wayne Koziatek (Walt Whitman High School, Grade 12, Age 17)
Other Collaborators: AB Graphics (Placard Designer)
Year of Creation: 2016
Medium: Poem digitally printed on styrene placard
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 x 24 in.
Description: Teen poem printed on styrene placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system.
Markings/Inscriptions:
Opening the door,
camos still on
boots still laced.
The smiles and screams of joy.
The tour of the war-torn Middle East complete.
Something is wrong,
you do not rejoice,
as if something were left behind.
Paperwork filled,
boots relaced,
sand once more smacking your face.
A sigh of relief.
Street/Site Location: HART Bus System
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)
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| Title: Rain
Poet: Michaela Marino (Half Hollow Hills High School West, Grade 9, Age 14)
Other Collaborators: AB Graphics (Placard Designer)
Year of Creation: 2016
Medium: Poem digitally printed on styrene placard
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 x 24 in.
Description: Teen poem printed on styrene placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system.
Markings/Inscriptions:
on the concrete step
in front of my school
as time passed on
the rain fell slowly down on me
falling in between the cracks
on the steps
as the tapping of my foot
and the rain
made a beat when it fell
every car that passed by wasn’t my mother’s
the clock hit 6 and finally she pulled up
a few words were exchanged between us
and after a few moments
I just focused my eyes on the rain drops
falling off the side off the car
Street/Site Location: HART Bus System
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)
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| Title: Golden
Poet: Faith McIntosh (Walt Whitman High School, Grade 12, Age 18)
Other Collaborators: AB Graphics (Placard Designer)
Year of Creation: 2016
Medium: Poem digitally printed on styrene placard
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 x 24 in.
Description: Teen poem printed on styrene placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system.
Markings/Inscriptions:
I am not petals of a flower that have been picked off by
a little girl.
I am a sunflower that stands strong and tall.
I am the dancing light of fireflies in the night during a
campfire.
I am the falling star you wish your dreams upon.
I am not the gold that complements silver
and I am definitely not the gold that hangs around your
neck.
I am a golden sunflower that stands strong and tall.
Street/Site Location: HART Bus System
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)
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| Title: The Color of Absolutes
Poet: Lilly Milman (Half Hollow Hills High School West, Grade 12, Age 17)
Other Collaborators: AB Graphics (Placard Designer)
Year of Creation: 2016
Medium: Poem digitally printed on styrene placard
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 x 24 in.
Description: Teen poem printed on styrene placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system.
Markings/Inscriptions:
It doesn’t come in stages,
denial, anger, depression.
It isn’t black or grey or blue or white.
It’s the amplification of senses,
of everything that used to mean nothing.
It’s the color of cars speeding down a slow road,
the last bits of fog dripping away from the sky,
the wind sifting through the trees.
It attacked me, appearing in the shallowest parts of
the ocean
on a map of the United States,
in neckties and button-down shirts,
in faded blue jeans.
The memories sting the most.
You can’t avoid what you can’t turn away from.
My mind burns with the color of twenty-dollar days,
of the kite that got stuck in the tree,
of the couch before we wore it away.
You learn to hate it, even though you’d like not to.
You crawl away from the color of finality,
of water bottle labels,
of his scratchy voice on the answering machine.
I feel it creeping up everywhere,
the color of the last shirt he ever wore.
Street/Site Location: HART Bus System
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)
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| Title: Refugees
Poet: Ingrid Oliva (Huntington High School, Grade 11, Age 16)
Other Collaborators: AB Graphics (Placard Designer)
Year of Creation: 2016
Medium: Poem digitally printed on styrene placard
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 x 24 in.
Description: Teen poem printed on styrene placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system.
Markings/Inscriptions:
Can you hear the thunder
Over the sound of all the crying children?
Can you hear the thunder
Over the sound of the cries for sanctuary?
Can you hear the thunder
Over the sound of the buildings crashing down?
Can you hear the thunder
Over the sound of bombs finding their way to the ground?
Can you hear the thunder
Over the sound of the violence that is nudging you for
attention?
In a place far, far away
Lies a world in full and complete destruction.
Where the children trade in playtime and an education
For hard labor.
Where the cities, once full of life,
Are now full of war and memories.
Where gunfire is the last thing heard before night falls
And the first thing before day comes.
Where bombs sent by the world
Only further destroy their home.
Where peace is only a distant friend
And violence is a new one to fend off.
Street/Site Location: HART Bus System
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)
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| Title: L-O-V-E
Poet: Gabrielle Ramirez (Walt Whitman High School, Grade 12, Age 17)
Other Collaborators: AB Graphics (Placard Designer)
Year of Creation: 2016
Medium: Poem digitally printed on styrene placard
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 x 24 in.
Description: Teen poem printed on styrene placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system.
Markings/Inscriptions:
Love
is Venus’s holy steel pipes
binding, atom by atom,
two kindred spirits into
a convoluted shoe knot,
yet easily detangled
by kitchen scissors
or kindergarten fingers.
Love
is the last word
of a word search
puzzle,
twisting round I’s
and jumping through U’s,
hidden to the inexperienced eye;
and when you are close to giving up,
to your surprise,
you realize
it was there the whole time.
Street/Site Location: HART Bus System
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)
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| Title: Look Up
Poet: Lauren Sager (Our Lady of Mercy Academy, Grade 10, Age 16)
Other Collaborators: AB Graphics (Placard Designer)
Year of Creation: 2016
Medium: Poem digitally printed on styrene placard
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 x 24 in.
Description: Teen poem printed on styrene placards and displayed in the interior ad spaces of selected buses in the HART system.
Markings/Inscriptions:
Snap a picture.
Post.
Wait for likes.
Eyes always focused down
Instead of looking around
Talking with fingers, not out loud
Trying to keep up with the rest of the crowd.
Stars shine and suns set without being seen
Because everyone is staring down at a screen.
The beauty of nature when each season ends
Laughter over coffee with family or friends
The moon shining bright in the sky when it’s dark
Taking a walk with your dog in the park –
An emoji, a text, or a post on Myspace
Can never express what you can say face-to-face.
And no matter the number of Instagram likes,
A picture is never as good as real life.
The world isn’t going to wait up for you
But your phone will still be here in an hour or two
So look up.
Street/Site Location: HART Bus System
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington (Public Art Initiative)
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