What we experience in our national parks can sometimes leave us at a loss for words, but park-inspired poets prove that finding those words can be nothing short of extraordinary.

To honor the National Park Service centennial in 2016, the Academy of American Poets commissioned 50 poems to celebrate national parks in every state. Today, we’re taking a closer look at five of our favorites, including:

• Ada Limón | Notes on the Below
• Nathalie Handal | Accepting Heaven at Great Basin
• Arthur Sze | White Sands
• Meg Day | The Permanent Way
• Major Jackson | Song as Abridged Thesis of George Perkins Marsh’s Man and Nature

Episode 17, “A Collision of Breaths,” was produced by Todd Christopher.

Original theme music by Chad Fischer

Audio clips courtesy of the American Academy of Poets. For the complete collection “Imagine Our Parks with Poems,” please visit: https://poets.org/imagine-our-parks-poems

The Secret Lives of Parks is brought to you by:

Todd Christopher – Producer & Host 
Jennifer Errick – Producer & Host 
Bev Stanton – Online Producer 
Vaness Pius – Social Media Manager

The Secret Lives of Parks is a production of the National Parks Conservation Association. With more than 1.6 million members and supporters, NPCA is the nation’s only independent, nonpartisan advocacy organization dedicated to protecting national parks. Learn more at npca.org