Moorhead poets offered a chance at immortality ... on city's sidewalks

It's probably a safe bet to say that poets don't usually want people trampling over their work, but scribes in Moorhead might make an exception for the city's new contest.

Residents are invited to enter their poetry for a chance to have it permanently etched into Moorhead's sidewalks.

It's part of the "Moorhead Sidewalk Art Contest," which is also taking submissions for "original graphic designs," according to the submission form.

The poems will be imprinted on sections of new sidewalk replacements going in around town this summer, reports KVVR.

City leaders see it as a chance to "spice up" strolls through downtown, as well as an opportunity to boost local businesses, the Forum writes.

The project is hardly written in stone, however. According to KFGO, "most" of the City Council supports the idea, but there are lingering questions over how to judge the content of the poems, and whether they could be seen as offensive.

Still, there's a lot of enthusiasm for the contest, with Moorhead Mayor Del Rae Williams telling the station that "as many as 80 poems" could wind up underfoot in the downtown area.

The city says it's inspired by St. Paul's "Everyday Poems for City Sidewalk" program, which launched in 2008, according to St. Paul's website.

The deadline for submissions in the Moorhead contest is Friday, April 17.