My poem was Poem No. 1, the first out of hundreds. I remember thinking, "Whatever the poem says, those words are going to become visual components." It didn't really matter what the words would say. I was going to interpret it typographically.

But as I began reading some of the haiku, they had to do with winter, or birds, or things that didn't interest me. Whereas Poem No. 1, apart from being number one, meant more to me than the others did. This is my city. For better or worse, this is where I practice design, in this city of my birth.