Poetry will be woven into the fabric of daily life in Lancaster city when it soon appears at the ballpark, the library, the hospital, the market, the theater, the train station and even the homeless shelter.

By the end of the year, poetry will be incorporated into 15 sites across the Red Rose City.

The Poetry Paths program of Franklin & Marshall College is completing contracts that will bring poetry and public art to the sites. Program organizers are now calling for submissions for nearly half of the sites.

"We're thrilled to be a part of this," said Mary Stadden, spokeswoman for Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, which is one of the poetry sites.

The college, which has promoted public art with its facade of colored lights and mural initiatives, is anticipating adding the written word to a new display at North Prince and West Chestnut streets.

The visual arts and design school is the site with the earliest deadline. Poems from living poets, preferably addressing visual art and creativity, must be submitted by Friday.

The deadline for the other sites is March 21 and they include the Fulton Opera House, Lancaster Public Library, Clipper Magazine Stadium, Shreiner-Concord Cemetery and the Spanish American Civic Association building on Pershing Avenue.

Previously, poems have been submitted or selected for the Lancaster Amtrak Station on McGovern Avenue; Eastern Market Plaza, 308 E. King St.; Lancaster General Hospital; and the quadrant of Penn Square closest to Central Market.

A call for poems has not been issued for the remaining five sites: Bright Side Opportunities Center, Water Street Mission, Keystone Arts & Culture Center, Conestoga Greenway and the Philadelphia Writers House at Franklin & Marshall College.

The project, which also includes poetry writing workshops in School District of Lancaster schools, is being funded through a $250,000 grant from the Lancaster County Community Foundation and support from Franklin & Marshall College.

Plans call for the poems to be incorporated with artwork on the sites. Submissions by artists will likely be sought in April, Kerry Sherin Wright, Poetry Paths executive director, said.

In the case of PCA&D, the college plans to have Root 222, a group of college alumni, complete a painting at the corner that combines imagery with the words of a poem.

It is too early in the process to know how that will look, but Stadden, the college's public relations director, said, "It's going to be a really interesting product for people to see."

Water Street Ministries plans to incorporate poetry with a large sculpture at South Prince and Conestoga streets.

While the theme for the project has not been finalized, spokeswoman Maria Schaszberger said, the Christian ministry is looking to Deuteromony 8:7 for inspiration.

The biblical passage recounts Moses telling the Israelites of a promised land flowing with life-giving water.

That theme resonates with the county's largest homeless shelter, where people come seeking a warm bed or a meal, and emerge renewed.

"So many people see the homeless as nameless, faceless, speechless people. This is a really good opportunity," Schaszberger said, to give them a voice through poetry. "We're really excited about it."

The Spanish American Civic Association hopes to give voice to the city's Hispanic residents.

"We're trying to choose poetry that illuminates the Latino experience in America," said Allison Weber, SACA director of community relations and education.

The poem, which will be displayed on the front of the organization's building, might be in English or Spanish or it might mix both languages together, she said.

"It's a reflection that Lancaster is bilingual, multicultural and heavily influenced by the Hispanic community," SACA executive director Carlos Graupera said of the message  his organization hopes the poem will convey.

The Lancaster Public Library is an institution founded on the power of the written word. A poem, which would likely go in the area to the right of the library's front door, might reflect the power of language and literacy.

It also might reflect the library's interest in environmental conservation, as it considers adding a "green" vegetative roof to part of the building, said Heather Sharpe, the library's community relations coordinator.

"We're really hoping it's another way to connect the library with the community and the arts," Sharpe said.

At the Shreiner-Concord Cemetery, North Mulberry and West Chestnut streets, the cemetery foundation is hoping to give a voice, or at least recognition, to a person whose own voice was stilled 142 years ago.

Poems being sought for the burial ground of Thaddeus Stevens should reflect the congressman's opposition to slavery and his support for freedom, equality and education for all.

Mike Peck, president of the cemetery's board, said the foundation also hopes a poem will convey Stevens' reason for being there. Unlike other cemeteries of the era, Shreiner-Concord was open to everyone, regardless of race.

"We need to make that historical perspective very clear to people," Peck said.

The poem at the cemetery might be laid in stepping stones leading to Stevens' grave, or it might be on a nearby wall, Peck said.

Peck said he was skeptical at first, but is now impressed with the poetry project.

"I think it will be an addition to the city the same way the murals are. They come to be a part of your life," Peck said.

When the poetry sites are completed in December, plans call for a map to be available online that will allow people to to take physical or virtual tours of the poetry paths. An accompanying podcast will be available for download to narrate the journey.

That information also will be available on the program website, poetrypaths.org.

bharris@lnpnews.com