Inhaling London, One Poem at a Time

London is a bustling metropolis with everything one can imagine about, and these are not limited to inventories in stores and must-see lists of tourists. There is a lot of rhythm beneath the city’s skin that is way beyond the capabilities of the steel veins and loops of cables that are constantly pulsating. The poetry of the city’s charms is there even inside London Underground. These 28 inches wide and 4 inches high rectangular metal strips are placed just above eye level and near the entrance to a carriage with other advertisements giving it envious glances. Some call them ‘a quiet revolution, no larger than a thought’ but it is a whisper of art between the rattle and roar of the everyday.

‘Poems on the Underground’ can be discovered and read by everyone even on buses, boats, and the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) … and these poems are like a whisper of art between the rattle and roar of the everyday. The concepts, for those who are unaware, took birth in 1986 and the aim was not to place poetry on a pedestal but to let the words be read even by those who have never had the time or opportunity to get nearer to poetry. It was the walls of carriages where lives brushed their shoulders, eyes wandered, and where silence asked for something more than just timetables and ads. splaying verses in the carriages of the London Underground. Launched in 1986, The program was the brainchild of American writer Judith Chernaik, who, along with poets Gerard Benson and Cicely Herbert decided to plant verses among the masses like seeds in winter. I have eagerly looked forward to boarding a carriage or coach where one these poetry plates had been placed… and I have been fortunate a few times. The only rule that those who led the program decided on was that the lines must move hearts and minds in a few lines… and one comes across a variety of poets from all times suddenly appear to speak of everything from love to exile, from mangoes to city lights, and quite literally, all that would interest a poetry layman.

Poems never lecture. They hardly have the sort who will wave a cane and force a lesson on unwilling students and would rather not spout a lofty concept without first letting themselves land firmly on the ground. For tourists who manage to step out of their schedule-laden thoughts or let out their anxiety to look up, suddenly discover a memorable souvenir – a fragment of London’s soul caught mid-journey.

One Londoner proudly proclaimed that for him these poems were like a heartbeat of home between stations! They say the words have stayed on with them. I am not sure how many Londoners remain bothered about poetry but the fact that this concept has gone uninterrupted for decades is proof enough that they do care. These public poems are an anthology on the move, and they are a far stronger symbol of love, joy, and harmony than even the thousands of locks that people hang on the railings over bridges in Paris. These locks are now even on the Queen’s Walk in London, and I must admit seeing them even in Delhi… I hope someone picks such a concept and brings poetry to the Delhi Metro as well. And instead of stupidity on posters that are glued to walls in every city in India, why can’t we have poetry in unexpected nooks and corners there? It is not as if I am suggesting something revolutionary as these ‘poems on the underground’ have already inspired similar initiatives in New York, Paris, and Shanghai. Why not bring poetry in all our States and have them resonating with the aam junta in markets, trains, buses, and even places of religion? After all, if one reads of Harivansh Rai Bachchan, to give one example, inside a temple, mosque, and a church, it just might promote the message of humanity.

The poems that one reads here in London do not have any underlying agenda when they are selected. The selection committee looks for lines that may resonate with people, have a balance of poetic styles and themes, and can be serious or even light-hearted. Only those with explicit content may be labelled inappropriate.

This concept here in London is one of the facets that has made me fall in love with the city. This concept has survived long enough to be a proof that public art, in any way it is interpreted, is appreciated… and something tells me that art does manage to transform mundane everyday experiences into a broader appreciation for life. And poetry.
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Arvind Passey
Uploaded on 10 April 2025
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