The Woodlands Art Benches: Sparking Connections
Photographs and poetry about the first twenty-four art benches in The Woodlands, Texas, coalesce in a collection worthy of the residents and the local convention bureau.
Stardust Days
the metal red Stardust bench
welcomes strollers
along a curve in the waterway
where the breeze ripples water
and lifts hair.
Snowflake shaped pieces,
like magnetic two-dimensional toys,
fit together, support the structure.
An upright disk, as ornate as papel picado,
divides the bench, provides seating on both sides.
Children flock,
climb onto the lower shelf.
Papas and mamas rest on the higher one,
watch the swan boats nearby
nestle nose to nose,
awaiting their next riders.
Little ones find handholds
And magic in the peek-a-boo cutouts,
curved shapes with unbroken lines:
petals, butterflies, cookies,
airplanes, balloons, smiles—
a place to pretend, to tell stories.
Sticky-warm little fingers
poke through openings,
touch mamas and papas,
while cicadas hum and
the nearby falls murmur.
We are all made of Stardust.