Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2007SYR10
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
Beneath Many Stars
poster information
Description
Beneath many stars
diners feast on sweet music
in Armory Square
This was one of those poems that didn't need re-writing. It just fell into place.
It was the summer of 2005, and my wife, Phyllis, and I were at Jazz Fest, downtown. It was a beautiful, starry night, and we were over by Walton Street, by the Museum of Science and Technology. They had a big band playing jazz, and there were a lot of outdoor tables set up, and people were eating, and waiters and waitresses were almost skating back and forth with the food.
Phyllis and I had grabbed a sandwich earlier, but it was inside, not outside, and it was just a little something, not a meal. This was later, after most people had had the main meal, and they were into dessert mode. And I thought, I don't need any dessert, because the music is so sweet.
I love the atmosphere of Armory Square, especially when it has outside dining.
Because there are so many restaurants downtown, I did not want to depict just one. Thus I depicted a couple dining outside the Armory Square sign; by doing so, people could associate it with Armory Square, without it advertising a specific restaurant.
The sign is on the side of a building, overlooking a parking lot. I created a funny narrative about a couple setting up their own dining table in the middle of the lot, with a crisp tablecloth and a personal chef. I pictured a romantic scene, with a jolly chef, a love-struck man, and a demure woman all enjoying a starry evening.