Poster Image

A roadside sign is partially covered by a flowering plant growing up it and two bluebirds perching on it

$20

Item#: 2014SYR02

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

Overhead Highway

poster information

Description

Overhead highway
Flier on the exit ramp
Roadside wildflower

Hitchhiking was popular on interstates from the 60's through the 80's. The on-ramp was the platform where adventures began, standing by the entrance, thumb or sign in hand.

Today there are fliers standing by the exit ramps, holding signs for something else. Drivers passing, wondering what their stories are. Where are they going?

Roadside wildflowers
An affliction of weeds
or
A display of flowers?

What first attracted me to the poem was the last line about the wildflower. It instantly created a distinct visual in my head, so that was my starting point. I wanted to incorporate one of Syracuse's major highways, 81, which is a popular topic of discussion in the city night now. To me, 81 is the first indication that Syracuse is close when I make the long drive to school gym home. However, I didn't want my piece to only be about the school; I wanted it to be about the city and its residents.

The Rose and the Eastern Bluebird are New York's state flower and bird. Which Roses symbolize rebirth while the bluebird is coincidentally blue and orange, Syracuse University school colors.