An entire poem written by Sherman Alexie is inscribed in a spiral fashion in polished granite tiles on a concrete surface in the library's Overlook Park at the south end of the Monroe Street Bridge and in view of the Spokane Falls. It is surrounded by a low rock wall.Sherman Alexie, now living in Seattle, is a former Spokane resident (1991-1994) and prolific American Indian author, poet, playwright, comedian, and lecturer. His poem, "That Place Where Ghosts of Salmon Jump," was the final piece of public art installed in conjunction with the construction of the downtown Spokane Public Library in 1995.
He wrote an environmentally sensitive poem that celebrates the creation of the falls and the river – and laments what has become of this former river of nurture and the people who inhabited its banks.
A portion of the poem reads: "…Look at the falls now if you can see beyond all of the concrete the white man has built there. Look at all of this and tell me that concrete ever equals love… These falls are that place where ghosts of salmon jump…"
"The Place Where Ghosts of Salmon Jump" is part of “The Spokane Scupture Walk” published by the Spokane Arts Commission.