Primary Source Sets

Weathergrams are short poems written in cursive italic script on kraft paper cut from paper bags. Ever since Lloyd Reynolds first introduced weathergrams to Reed College, the slips of paper have popped up on campus, dangling from trees until they disintegrate in the rain. According to Reynolds, the poems were meant to consist of ten words or less, probably pertaining to nature or the season. "At first glance, the weathergram is not obscure," Reynolds wrote in a short pamphlet. "But it is somewhat like an iceberg; most of it is out of sight, and the reader must dive into the dark water."