Uploaded November 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Watch the full poem here! youtu.be/Zu8_Fezs2Ho?si=qQdgqCgqN9lcjQi8
When Ada Limón, 2023 MacArthur Fellow, 24th Poet Laureate of the United States, and the first Latina to hold the title, stood in front of Andy Goldsworthy’s sculpture “Roof,” she felt compelled to write.
“Roof” comprises nine stacked-slate, low-profile domes—each hollow and layered. Goldsworthy, who has worked with the domical form since the late 1970s, chose it for the Gallery in part because the site’s northern orientation would allow him to produce perfectly black holes.
Inspired by how the work’s subversiveness and alive qualities, Limón wrote a new original piece, “In the End, Everything Gives.”
Watch as she performs and interprets this poem about legacy, community, and the varied meanings attributed to circles.
Read Ada's poem here: https://www.nga.gov/stories/ada-limon...
View “Roof” in our online collection and in person: https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-ob...
Watch the full poem here! youtu.be/Zu8_Fezs2Ho?si=qQdgqCgqN9lcjQi8
When Ada Limón, 2023 MacArthur Fellow, 24th Poet Laureate of the United States, and the first Latina to hold the title, stood in front of Andy Goldsworthy’s sculpture “Roof,” she felt compelled to write.
“Roof” comprises nine stacked-slate, low-profile domes—each hollow and layered. Goldsworthy, who has worked with the domical form since the late 1970s, chose it for the Gallery in part because the site’s northern orientation would allow him to produce perfectly black holes.
Inspired by how the work’s subversiveness and alive qualities, Limón wrote a new original piece, “In the End, Everything Gives.”
Watch as she performs and interprets this poem about legacy, community, and the varied meanings attributed to circles.
Read Ada's poem here: https://www.nga.gov/stories/ada-limon...
View “Roof” in our online collection and in person: https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-ob...
