Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2003SYR09
Purchase Details
11x17-inches, printed on heavy weight (100-pound) Hammermill cover paper. We package each print with a piece of chipboard in a clear plastic sleeve.
You also receive…
An information page with photos of the artist and poet, and hand-written comments from each.
Medium- and large-format posters are available by custom order. Contact us for details.
Poem Inspiration Location
Open Music Case
poster information
Description
Open music case
Dollars flutter in as notes
Fly from saxophone
I have seen street musicians in Armory Square, some nights, you know, as you're coming out of a place, there's someone there with an open music case. I used the saxophone and the bird-like words with it because saxophones remind me of a bird, the shape of it.
So when I wrote about a street musician playing a saxophone, I wanted to use words that were related to birds—flying, fluttering, that sort of thing. And music notes, they sort of take to the sky on their own, too. So I like to use the bird image.
I think street musicians are great. I'm from New Jersey, and when I go into the city, to New York, I see them all the time. When I have time, I'll stop and listen.
So when I read the poem, it was easy to imagine a street musician. I was interested in showing the talent of these street artists while reflecting the words of haiku. Having dollars falling in mid-air helped me to capture the fast pace of the city, with each onlooker stopping momentarily to enjoy the talent of these artists.