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Raining Poetry

This program is no longer active.

Through the Raining Poetry program, dozens of poems were been placed throughout the streets of Boston. They were only visible when it rained.

ABOUT RAINING POETRY

Contact: Arts and Culture

Raining Poetry was a collaboration between the Mayor's Mural Crew, former Poet Laureate Danielle Legros Georges, and Mass Poetry. Using a biodegradable water-repellent spray and stencils made by local artists, the Mural Crew placed poems throughout the streets of Boston. The spray vanishes once dry, so the poems were invisible until it rained. Once wet, the area around the poems darkened, and Bostonians were treated to short poems as they walked around the city. Boston’s former Poet Laureate, Danielle Legros Georges, selected the poems that were installed, and they included works in several different languages.

Poem locations

Poem locations
Contact: Arts and Culture
  • Peter Hill front gate, Bussey Street, Jamaica Plain
  • South Street in front of the veterans building 
  • Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library
  • Roslindale Square
  • Dudley Square in front of the Dudley Cafe on Warren Street
  • Harrison Ave in front of main entrance to SOWA parking lot
  • Harrison Ave at main entrance to Boston Medical Center
  • Corner of Boylston and Tremont Streets
  • Tremont Street, in front of Slades Bar & Grill
  • Corner of Broad Street and State Street, in front of Bostonia Public House
  • Maverick Square, next to the 7-11
  • Kenmore Square, across the street from the Post Office on the corner of Deerfield Street and Commonwealth Ave
  • Corner of Clarendon Street & Columbus Ave
  • Boston Common across from the Public Garden
  • Public Garden, across from Boston Common

Charles Coe

  • Boston Public Library - Copley (both sides of the main entrance)
  • America's Food Basket (926 Cummins Highway - Mattapan)
  • Mildred Avenue Community Center – Mattapan


Mary Buchinger

  • Temple St. Bus Stop (Downtown Boston)
  • Charles St./Boylston St. (by Edgar Allan Poe Statue)


Jennifer Militello

  • Dudley Cafe (15 Warren St, Roxbury)
  • Burke School (60 Washington Street, Dorchester)
  • Flat Black Coffee (1906 Dorchester Ave, Dorchester)


Rosario Castellanos 

  • Mexican Consulate (across from 55 Franklin St, Downtown Boston)


Tanya Larkin 

  • Haymarket(Congress Street at the Public Market)


Liam Day 

  • Back Bay (Corner of Mass Ave and Boylston Street)


Mary Clare Powell 

  • Curtis Hall/Sedgwick St Boston Public Library (Jamaica Plain)
  • Boston Common Crosswalk to Public Garden

Chen Chen - Back Bay Station
Danielle Legros Georges - Boston Public Library at Copley
Sonia Sanchez - Upper Newbury Street (by Diesel)
Kathi Aguero - Tremont Street (across from the BCA)
Shauna Barbosa - Downtown Crossing
Tontongi - West Street, Downtown Boston
Fred Marchant - Edward Everett Square, Dorchester
Martin Espada - East Boston (ZUMIX)

Kathi Aguero - West Roxbury (by the Library)
Shauna Barbosa - Upham's Corner (by the Health Center)
Gary Duehr - Fields Corner (by the Library)
Tontongi - Mattapan (by the Library)

Langston Hughes - Dudley Square (by Dudley Square Cafe)
Gary Duehr - Upham's Corner (by The Strand)
Barbara Helfgott Hyett - Roslindale (by Adams Park)
Elizabeth McKim - Hyde Park (by the Library)

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