SARANAC LAKE — Residents of Lake Placid and Tupper Lake will soon see the arrival of the Adirondack Center for Writing Poetry Machine. Created in collaboration with visiting writer Erin Dorney, the repurposed gumball machine distributes free, pocket-sized poems.

The Poetry Machine has been moving around to different locations in the North Country since last February, including Chef Darrell’s Mountain Diner (Blue Mountain Lake), Indian Lake Theater (Indian Lake), J.F. Farm Store and Cafe (Northville), Old Forge Hardware (Old Forge), Good Ol’ Wishy’s (Croghan), Otto’s Abode (Wanakena), Franklin County Courthouse (Malone), and Lakeside Coffee Roasters (Rouses Point). More than 1,000 poems have been distributed so far.

The poetry machine can be found inside Keeseville Pharmacy in Keeseville during the month of October, where visitors can pick up a free poem while stopping by for their flu shot or COVID-19 booster. In November, residents can find the poetry machine at the Tupper Lake Public Library and in December it will be at Origin Coffee in Lake Placid.

Inside the machine, 10 different types of poetry are explored, with an example of each:

¯ Julia Bloch — “Dear Kelly [p.43]” (epistolary)

¯ Erin Dorney — (erasure and cut-up)

¯ Camille T. Dungy — “this beginning may have always meant this end” (prose)

¯ Ashley M. Jones — “Summer Vacation in the Subjunctive” (list)

¯ Lillian Klein — “Quarantine Haiku” (haiku)

¯ Laurie Kolp — “Carry Me” (cento)

¯ Steven Leyva — “Ode to Lando Calrissian” (ode)

¯ Kathleen Lynch — “How To Build An Owl” (how-to)

¯ Sasha Pimentel — “The Kiss” (ekphrastic)

The ACW Poetry Machine is a collaboration between Dorney and the Adirondack Center for Writing as part of the Creatives Rebuild New York Artist Employment Program. CRNY, a project of the Tides Center, is a three-year, $125 million investment in the financial stability of New York state artists and the organizations that employ them.