Celebrate National Poetry Month with Badlands National Park: Enjoy Poem by Artist in Residence Gary Cohen

Gary Cohen is a New Yorker who traveled to southwestern South Dakota in spring, 2003 for a one month residency at Badlands National Park. He returned to his home changed – by the landscape and by the people of South Dakota. Now living in Massachusetts, Cohen, a poet and photographer, submitted 17 poems reflecting his residency during April of last year just in time for National Poetry Month.

Learning to Read (Like a Gaper) by Gary Cohen

I am learning to read

Like the meadowlark.

Prying pith from reed

By the upper and lower

Chisels in my spotty head.



I hold a dusky

Meadowlark to my tin ear.

I’m listening for the retreat of light.

I’m leaning into his vivid breast,

Marveling at his convoluted orbit,

Holding his noisy heart between my teeth;

My belly full of rage,

My head still spinning from the chatter

My hands still wringing,

Searching for the right words

National Parks have been set aside for everyone – the scientists, the artists, the families, and the loners. In 1996, Badlands National Park started its Artist In Residence Program using seed money donated by Ted Hustead of Wall Drug Store. Since then, it has become a permanent fixture in the park’s education program, funded now by Badlands Natural History Association. Each spring and fall, an artist arrives to spend one month in the Badlands. During the residency, they are expected to present at least two lessons in their medium in a local school. Partner schools include Interior School (Interior, South Dakota) and Rockyford School (Porcupine, South Dakota). In exchange for housing and a small reimbursement for art supplies, artists agree to donate a piece, whether it be a photograph, a painting, or a poem, representative of their time in Badlands National Park.

This April, woodcarver Betty Popp arrives from Townsend, Wisconsin for a four week residency. Betsy has shown her work around the country and specializes in wildlife figures. In addition to carving, Betsy is a painter and essayist.

National Poetry Month was initiated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996 to bring together publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools and poets around the United States to celebrate the role poetry plays in American culture.

To learn more about the Badlands National Park Artist in Residence Program, visit the park’s website at http://www.nps.gov/badl/ The artist in residence program information is detailed on the park’s expanded website.