Ben Bernthal’s Strangers’ Poems is a social art practice that can happen anywhere — from a street corner to a café — and invites conversation beyond small talk. Ben sits with a typewriter and a sign that invites people to give words and get a poem in return. An original poem is crafted on the spot, as the result of this collaborative process. Following are poems created by Ben, based on viewers’ responses to Louise Nevelson’s Sky Cathedral's Presence I (1959–1962) at the de Young.

“memory, puzzle, mystery” for Cady

the darkness equalizes.
all the objects left
unordered, found again
in sleep. charred chimney.
keepsakes long forsaken
now again in reach.
un-puzzling the artifacts
in their deaf swagger,
in their silk pajamas
made of shadows cast.
each mystery underwritten
by foreboding black.

“crutch, pedestal, lost” for Isaac

lost pedestal,
crutch kicked
from under arm,
resulting spill
of body against
asphalt’s timeless
black. the water rings
from bedside cups,
their sweat, their stains
of memories erased.
in what key did 
the singer sing?
displaced.

“containment, refuse, scavenge” for Gioia

containment breaks. 
the artist scavenges
among the rats
of broken boroughs.
refuse as a refuge
one can build
from cast-off cabinets,
milk crates, the busted
banisters of the forsaken
brownstones past atonement.
the worlds we make,
the worlds we occupy.

“altered, reinvigorate, uniform” for Kalina

an altar

altered.

black lacquer

painted onto

splintered edges–

how the disparate

parts may be ordered

into new oblivions.

the rigid edges

reinvigorated

into funeral uniform.

For more on Ben Bernthal’s work, visit Strangers’ Poems or find him @bbernthal.