A CARDIFF street became a black board for poetry about current topics yesterday as the Pavement Poet expressed his art with multi-coloured chalk.
Pavement poet in Cardiff
Daniel Rowland, 29, is travelling to various parts of the UK with nothing more than a tent, clothes and a bag of chalk. Yesterday, he was on The Friary, near Queen Street, writing a range of poems about politics, nature, spirituality and life in general.
The pavement poet’s work on Queen Street
“Every floor and every space is different. I work with the space and decorate it with art,” he said. “It all started when I was at a gathering and a friend of mine said he had been lighting fire in people’s hearts with chalk, writing inspirational quotes.
“I tried it and have loved it ever since. The poems always have metre and I try to make some of them rhyme. A lot of people like it and give positive comments. Occasionally some people will moan about it and say it’s graffiti. But the chalk is washable so it won’t be there for long, especially if it rains.”
A curious onlooker marvels at the Pavement Poet’s piece.
Mr Rowland, who is originally from Wiltshire, travels from one city to the next, either by public transport, hitchhiking or even on foot depending on the weather. Six days ago he was on the Isle of Wight, yesterday he was in Cardiff. He is in Swansea today and he plans to tackle Scotland and Ireland in the near future.
Want to see where the Pavement Poet has been? See our map below:
