Haiku Pathway

The Haiku Pathway Matt Morrow (Used with Permission)

Nice walk, but you have to go into the Courtyard main campus of the Santa Fe Community College Julio Torres (Atlas Obscura User)

Haiku Visitors Matt Morrow (Used with Permission)

The poems were written by both poetry students and notable poets from the state. Matt Morrow (Used with Permission)

There are 36 stones making up the Haiku Pathway. Matt Morrow (Used with Permission)

The "stones" are actually clay, giving them a mushroom-like appearance. Matt Morrow (Used with Permission)

tylercole (Atlas Obscura User)

breaingram (Atlas Obscura User)

Along this pathway paved with poetry, 36 stones are scattered through the main courtyard of Santa Fe Community College. Each stone is engraved with a haiku, written by students at the school and notable poets from New Mexico.

The Haiku Pathway was created by artist Christy Hengst and poet Miriam Sagan, the project’s poetry curator. The mix of poems (some using a more contemporary form that doesn’t strictly adhere to the 5/7/5 syllable form) describe the site’s surroundings, from mountains to student life, but are also a mix of whimsy, reflection, and humor.

Hengst chose to make the stones from clay, hand-stamping the text into the clay. In an interview with the Santa Fe New Mexican, she said she chose clay rather than carved stone or cement because “It’s softer and it has a slightly more natural or ephemeral feeling. We thought the pieces would look like mushrooms here.”

The clay stones dot the path giving visitors a chance to walk slowly through the installation, taking in each verse.