“Crossing State Lines: An American Renga” was commissioned by America: Now and Here, an organization founded by Eric Fischl to promote conversation about contemporary America through the arts. The Renga is a genre of Japanese collaborative poetry in which each poet builds on the words of the preceding poet. The Renga read in this film is based on the book of the same name curated by Bob Holman and Carol Muske-Dukes that features 54 poets in conversation from across the country.