At Green Lake, latest word in poetry is ... umbrellas

For those who missed the Green Lake Poetess after her yearlong hiatus, she was back Sunday with a bold new display.

To celebrate the anniversary of the end of her last public project -- in which she set up a small wooden table along the northwest edge of Green Lake and read poetry to curious passers-by -- the Poetess, also known as Amy Allin, 41, of Ballard, returned to her old haunt with a bevy of decorated umbrellas, each inscribed with a memorable verse.

"Umbrellas and Seattle sort of go together," she said on the sunny and clear 68-degree day, standing barefoot underneath a big, black umbrella with black streamers.

The goal of this project, like the last one, was to engage the public with poetry in unexpected ways. The visual presence was calculated to intrigue lakeside strollers in the hope of persuading them to carry one of the poetry parasols around the lake. All were decorated with words of poets -- from e.e. cummings to Jared Leising.

People were more reluctant to participate than she had hoped, but at least she piqued their curiosity, she said. She got the biggest rise out of passers-by when one of the umbrellas threatened to blow away and people scurried to help recover them.

Allin, a resident artist at Studio-Current on Capitol Hill, said she wants her work to combine poetry with visual and performance art to broaden its appeal.

"It's the intersection of people and poetry, to find an interface that is fun and accessible," she said. "People are afraid of it still."

Just then, Clinton Bliss rounded the path in a tie-dye shirt and Rollerblades, wielding a ruby umbrella after circling the lake. Bliss, who met Allin a year and a half ago during her Poetess stint, had helped her decorate the umbrellas on Saturday night.

Bliss was in on the show, but it caught Sue Apperson as a pleasant surprise. On a walk with her husband, just enjoying the weather, she stopped at the art/poetry exhibit.

Besides her Studio-Current gig, Allin runs a monthly poetry reading at Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Center. Day to day, she works in a Ballard boatyard to pay the bills.

Allin has no plans to reinstitute her weekly poetry presence at the park, but she may do sporadic events. She comes to Green Lake because it's less touristy than other parks and has a welcoming, safe and casual vibe, she said.

On Sunday, she said the most common thing she heard was, "This is why I live in this city -- because things like this happen."

Isaac Arnsdorf: 206-464-2397 or iarnsdorf@seattletimes.com