In honor of Earth Day on April 22, Barnstable Land Trust is launching Words in the Wild, a unique hiking trail initiative that features four original site-specific poems penned by local poets.
Each poem has been etched onto individual cedar trail signs that include a QR code connecting to audio recordings and other information. Words in the Wild inspiration can be discovered on the following BLT trails:
- “Let Red Live in Your Heart” by Kim Baker/Mashpee; Fuller Farm in Marstons Mills
- “Prayer to the Living World” by Brett Warren/Yarmouth Port; Eagle Pond Sanctuary in Cotuit
- “Ropes Field” by Diane Hanna/Cotuit; Ropes Field in Cotuit
- “Sanctuary” by Al Starkey/Yarmouth Port; Pogorelc Sanctuary in West Barnstable
Author, poet and artist Lauren Wolk approached Barnstable Land Trust to partner on the initiative. Working with her colleague Bob Nash, the duo broadened the partnership to include the Cape Cod Makers group who used their specialized GlowForge technology to engrave the poems on cedar plaques. A team of BLT volunteers led by Kelly Barber, Director of Land Stewardship, installed the unique trail signs at specially selected locations on the four BLT properties.
“This project illustrates the power of local collaborations,” said Janet Milkman, BLT’s Executive Director. “We hope that the Words in the Wild initiative will encourage people to get outside and experience the connection between art and nature on Earth Day and beyond.”
“When I ‘retired,’ I vowed that I would continue to work on exciting projects to build bridges between artists and their audiences,” Wolk says after recently retiring from the Cultural Center of Cape Cod in Yarmouth. “Words in the Wild is the first of these projects and I couldn’t be more excited about it.”
On Earth Day, Barnstable Land Trust will reveal the poems and audio recordings online in addition to the physical trailside plaques. Until then, information about Words in the Wild can be accessed here.
As part of its Earth Day celebration, Barnstable Land Trust is also partnering with the Historical Society of Santuit and Cotuit on April 23 for a Cotuit Community Beach Cleanup Day. More details are available at https://blt.org/events
