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Pop Culture

Spontaneous subway poems

Everytime Madeline Schwartzman gets on the subway, she asks a complete stranger to write  a poem. "People seem to have things they want to share," Schwartzman said. "Some people feel so tortured by my request. My job is to break through that wall."

/ 11 PHOTOS
Raw Down Here: Madeline Schwartzman

Raw down here.
Harsh fluorescent light.
Unconscious tunnel.
Rats take flight.

Is the New York mind a collective?
Is the fear and love merging all night?
Do the depths of the earth open floodgates?
Will your passion and words be my plight?

Poetry in motion

Architecture professor Madeline Schwartzman was riding the New York City subway one day when an idea came to her: "Ask a stranger to write a poem!"

Schwartzman, pictured left with her piece "Raw Down Here," has since collected nearly 100 poems from fellow subway riders, and displays a selection of the poetry on her website, Poems by New Yorkers. Her subjects are a diverse mix of men, women and children of a wide variety of ages and races, and the poetry they've produced ranges from serious to silly, with a heavy emphasis on reflections about love. Here's a selection from her project.

Madeline Schwartzman

'An Unexpected Poem'

An unexpected poem
In the morning
Eating the husk cherries
I bought the day before.

Reading a book
Expecting no one to notice
Tuning out the crowds
A moment – or a few –
Of imagined quiet.

Who knows where this will go?
An unexpected poem,
A chance to think.
-Jeremy Schwartz

Madeline Schwartzman

'Spushcacao Is A Word Noone Knows'

Spushcacao is a word
noone knows not even
I. I’m guessing this is
a sharp rock that never
ends. Spushcacao
-Ava Davidovits

Madeline Schwartzman

A Small Vehicle

the vehicle travels forth not back
its divergence is sudden from track to track
a constant set of new destinations
will sometimes lead to its frustration

its metal grinds against the rail
as every foot roars in despair
it takes a breath when it tires
or when it sees something it admires

and from its break it’s hard to stop
as time is added to the clock
but when it starts they all do follow
and take the plunge into the hollow

and in this darkness the vehicle is lit
to guide its passengers through the abyss
arriving at their port of choice
they disembark to much rejoice

and once again it travels fast
harrowing through the tunnels pass
where it goes is still uncertain
but what is known is not a lesson
- Johan Lopez

Madeline Schwartzman

'Strangers Approach'

A stranger’s approach
sometimes warmer than a phone
call from a friend.
Or an attempt at a relationship
to mend.
I think I just met a new
friend :)
on a subway
in a strange land
a stranger became a helping hand.
-Chris Usher

Madeline Schwartzman

'Feeling Heavy'

Feeling heavy today
like the way it
is when you
can’t make jello
fit in yar strainer
Get up and just
go
cuz you know
it will all slip
through anyway
-Ellie Bensinger

Madeline Schwartzman

'I Can't Believe I Met You'

I can’t believe I met you
I can’t believe we fell in love
It’s crazy how much I love you
there’s no doubt you were sent from above

In such little time you got me
I fell for you so hard
love asked me no questions
it just seemed to swipe the card

The card that purchased my freedom
freedom that I find in you
freedom to live and love
to be myself stay true

You make the future exciting
I live for the thought of us
The possibilities are endless
All we have to do is trust
-Breanna Chevolleau

Madeline Schwartzman

'When The Writing Professor Is Asked'

When the writing
professor is asked
to write a poem
on the subway
After he has been up all night
grading.
He thinks it over.
Being asked by a kind, brown-eyed
woman, wearing jeans, slightly
faded
Ear flap cap
moss green
it’s cold outside.
Two stops to go and
back out into the cold
more grading
And also the grief
that comes from one more
thing being done.
-Matt McClelland

Madeline Schwartzman

Good Evening Ladies And Gentlemen

Good evening ladies and gentleman i would like to speak to you about the unspoken territories that speak in the soul of the mind
Only to find that time is made in the mind
Our lives bends as it blends with chatter
Leaving those with shapeless matter as the wind scatters.
If the heart sees what the mind wants to feel then the more we seek the
More the soul speaks and our minds may peek as the power starts to steep our lives are the manifestation of the physical derived
From the spiritual our lives are so miniscule yet we think were so invincible, never listening to the voice of change yes this is the life of the deranged as we become estranged from the life of the tamed. Karmic Retribution sings her truthful lessons paid with all my indirect expressions I am tested
Ive explored the lure then got bored
My mind is drifted to the cosmos where no one dares to follow i am no longer hollow no more pills left to swallow. -Justin

Madeline Schwartzman
Visualizing Life: Lilli Mitchell

Visualizing life
life in love.
Life with you.
Life you take.
Makes the way
I see things so
unreal
makes the way you
do things cause
A reel, of sadness
in my eye,
why?

Visualizing Life

Visualizing life
life in love.
Life with you.
Life you take.
Makes the way
I see things so
unreal
makes the way you
do things cause
A reel, of sadness
in my eye,
why?
-Lilli Mitchell

Madeline Schwartzman
We Are All Flowers: Ambroisa

Well I believe that life is
what you make it to be. We
are like Flowers, we were all
created differently, and like
all Flowers no one Flower is
more beautiful than the other,
like us we all possess our own
beauty.

We Are All Flowers

Well I believe that life is
what you make it to be. We
are like Flowers, we were all
created differently, and like
all Flowers no one Flower is
more beautiful than the other,
like us we all possess our own
beauty.
-Ambrosia

Madeline Schwartzman
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