April 10, 2026
Kristin Hunt/for PhillyVoice
Some of the poets and artists behind 'Healing Verse Germantown' pose with the project's curators in front of Mighty Writers. 'DREAMERS' by Andre Saunders (center in blue coat) is laid into the sidewalk.
A shiny new set of brass letters gleams from the sidewalk outside Mighty Writers in Germantown. Together, the words form a poem about dreams and untimely death.
The piece is one of 19 art installations opening this Saturday. They're the culmination of a yearslong project to address the impact of gun violence on the neighborhood through poetry, sculptures and virtual reality.
Healing Verse Germantown began with a series of public workshops hosted by Creative Philadelphia, the city's arts office, between October 2024 and February 2025. At each of the 10 events, participants wrote original poetry based on their experiences with gun violence. Artists and social workers were on hand to offer creative writing prompts and mental health resources as they scratched out their thoughts.
Creative Philadelphia published poems from these workshops, though not in a simple book. Some of them were recorded for the toll-free, 24-hour Healing Verse hotline. Callers who dial 1-855-763-6792 will hear a new piece each week and can connect to relevant suicide prevention and trauma survivor resources. A smaller pool of poems served as inspiration for the installations, which will be on view through June 6.
The finished pieces vary widely across media. "Philadelphia Soulcry" by Doriana Diaz became an augmented reality experience that places lives lost against the night sky. It will be accessible via QR code at Pastorius Community Gardens. Lindsay Turner's poem "Recipe for Healing" is spelled out in custom magnets across the Germantown Community Fridge. Artist Tomarra Sankara-Kilombo set six of the poems into collages that will cover bus shelters in the neighborhood.
Tomarra Sankara-Kilombo created a collage series for six of the Healing Verse Germantown poems. They will cover bus shelters in the neighborhood.
Some of the installations double as collectibles. The neighborhood pottery studio Rebel Potters etched Jaifah Thompson's "Learn to Forgive" into handmade vases. They'll be distributed, with fresh flowers inside, during the public art exhibition. M. Nzadi Keita honored her late brother Ben through her poem, which will be featured on sneakers distributed at Lonnie Young Recreation Center.
"DREAMERS," the piece set into the sidewalk, came from local musician and writer Andre Saunders. Attending a workshop, he said, helped him unlock feelings he couldn't access.
"To me, poetry is just honestly my truth," he said. "I feel like if you listen to my poetry or you listen to my music, you'll feel like you know me as a person. 'Cause I'm sharing all of the things I probably will never share in conversation."
Some of the poets worked through family tragedies in their verse. Darlene Wilson-Bennett penned "Mama Song" after her son Justin was fatally shot. A group of mothers who lost their children to gun violence recite the poem in a new short film from local filmmaker Eboni Zamani.
"I felt devastated as you can imagine, and trapped and just often without words," Wilson-Bennett said at a news conference Thursday. "And I found myself needing a response to people who were, I'm pretty sure unintentionally, invasive. The poetry kept me from growing increasingly dark and violent within myself."
Parental grief also informed RuNett Nia Ebo's piece "Hawkeye Took Flight." The longtime poet and Germantown native used to call her son Diallo "Hawkeye" because he could always find items she misplaced. He died by suicide at the age of 26.
Ebo remembers walking home from his memorial service and coming across a baby bird, struggling to break free of a plastic six-pack ring. Pulling out her keys, she tried to cut through constraints. When she freed the bird, however, it dropped to the ground. She assumed it was dead. But then, it flew up into the light.
"I said, that's my baby," Ebo recalled at the conference. "God is letting me know he took my baby so I don't have to worry about him anymore. And that's how I wrote 'Hawkeye Takes Flight.'"
The poem will be printed on a handmade banner, held by a sculpted bird preparing to fly.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, call, text or chat at 988lifeline.org. To learn how to get support for mental health, drug or alcohol issues, visit FindSupport.gov. Go to FindTreatment.gov or call 1-800-662-4357 to find a local treatment provider.
Follow Kristin & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @kristin_hunt
| @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice
Have a news tip? Let us know.
