The New York City's MTA has paired images from the recent public art commission executed by artist Sally Gil, Edges of a South Brooklyn Sky (2018) with a poem by Heather McHugh "A Night in the World" (2020) for their Poetry in Motion series. Gil's work is located at the Avenue U station on the N line, and consists of 14 large scale mosaics that reference the history, architecture and diverse cultures in the Gravesend neightborhood it is located within. McHugh is a recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" grant, and is the author of nine volumes of poetry, inlcuding a work shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize and another which was a finalist for the National Book Award.
A Night in the World
by Heather McHugh
I wouldn't have known if I didn't stay home
where the big dipper rises from, time
and again: one mountain ash.
And I wouldn't have thought, without traveling out
how huge that dipper was.
how small that tree.
More information here.
