New initiative on Windsor buses and vaccination clinics aims to inspire

Poetry on Windsor buses aims to inspire Marty Gervais, poet laureate emeritus, launches Windsor's Resilient Voices poetry on city buses. Rich Garton reports.

Windsor, Ont. — A new initiative is rolling out on city busses and in vaccination clinics, tapping into Windsor’s creative side.

Windsor’s former poet laureate Marty Gervais is delivering some poetry in motion. He’s one of many contributors to the “Windsor’s Resilient Voices” initiative.

“Hopefully it will move you, inspire you have some effect on you,” says Gervais. “I mean who knows you may be sitting there a little down in the dumps because many of us are facing all sorts of challenges and struggles. But we might read one of these poems and it might give us some hope. It might give us some feeling that things can be better.”

The city has taken dozens of submissions from writers across the region and is displaying the six-line poems in advertisement space on busses and at vaccination centres.

The poetry is on display all of April as part of national poetry month.

The aptly-chosen theme in every contribution is resilience.