Bradner Gardens Mosaic and Poems

by Jim O’Halloran

Bradner Gardens Park is a community garden and gathering place in South Seattle with individual veggie plots (P-patches), a community lawn, a basketball court, play area, educational gardens, and a community building with kitchen.

A portion of the community building containing the bathroom, kitchen, meeting area, and tool room was destroyed by an intentional fire in early 2020. The rebuilding was completed in spring of 2025. Community members came together to replace the original mosaic that was destroyed in the fire.

Here are photos and a link to a video of the new mosaic as well as two poems written by Lucinda O’Halloran who also contributed to the mosaic. The poems were read at the unveiling of the mosaic July 12, 2025.

Poems to honor our community

By Lucinda O’Halloran

The Silver Lining

I met with my neighbors today
As we came together
To rebuild
After the tragic fire
The silver lining: meeting neighbors and making new friends.

Community

We came together as a community
To unite and move forward.
And the community came together
Offering tiles
Effort
Time
Laughter
Optimism
Hope
And love
These walls are the fruits of our labor
Our labor of love
For all to enjoy in wonder.

Link to video