Commuters passing through Waterfront Station were treated to a special surprise on Valentine’s Day as a team of poets held a poetry reading in the heart of the station.

Presented by TransLink’s Art and Culture Program, Moving Lines: An I Love Transit Week Music and Poetry Event featured performances from poets Hari Alluri, Angelic Goldsky, Fiona Lam, and Brandon Wint. Violinist Cameron Wilson and cellist Finn Manniche accompanied the readings.

As people hustled between the SkyTrain, SeaBus, and West Coast Express, the poets shared their words with those passing through the bustling station, weaving together vivid images of love and transit.

Passersby were quick to express their appreciation for the performance. Many stopped to listen and even joined in with spontaneous applause and their own transit rhymes created at the interactive poetry booth.

Our hope with this event is it shows people the importance of poetry in everyday life at a public space like the SkyTrain station. This way more people engage with poetry and see its value in their daily lives.

Who knows, maybe the next great poet passed through Waterfront Station, and they just needed a little spark of inspiration to ignite their own creativity!