Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2004SYR09
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
A Christmas Tree Glows
poster information
Description
A Christmas tree glows
Through window of memory
Jasper Street—my home
Jasper Street was where I grew up. When I was a child there, the Christmases were magical! The neighborhood was a combination of German and Italian. My home was more German, and had some of the traditions of Germany. For example, the Christmas tree would never go up until Christmas Eve. A lot of times, we wouldn't see it all lit until Christmas morning. It was just a very special, amazing experience.
Prior to this project, I hadn't written a lot of haiku. But lately I've been very interested in it through my interest in Zen Buddhism. I really enjoy not only writing haiku, but reading it, especially from the older artists, Basho and Issa. It's surprising that they lived in the 1600s, because their writing is so relevant and amazingly right on, even today.
I like architecture, because I'm attracted to order. And I like landscape, because it's its own illustration of God's creation, and truly beautiful. So I like combining the two.
I was also thinking about our family's Christmas traditions, including putting up the Christmas tree. Christmas has always been a big tradition for us.
But I also wanted the author's perspective. So I went to Jasper Street. I found a house that I thought would be appropriate for the illustration, and took some pictures.
Then I started to think about the associations you make with home and Christmas. You think of driving by people's houses, looking at their Christmas lights, the Christmas trees in the window, the snow on the lawn. That's kind of how I went about doing it.