Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2009SYR03
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
Seniors Stretch on Grass
poster information
Description
Seniors stretch on grass
Moms run paths pushing newborns
The lake bears witness
I live in Fulton, but I come down to Onondaga Lake Park on a regular basis, because I love it. All of my haikus were about the park, and they made direct reference to things that go on in the park.
"Seniors stretching on grass" refers to Fit for the Next Fifty, a program that Wegmans funds all spring, summer, and into the fall. We do aerobics, stretching, yoga, and balance work, all right on the edge of the lake, beneath cottonwood trees. The young mothers are in another program. Moms push strollers with their newborns, and literally run the path, stop, do calisthenics, and then run some more.
And always the beautiful cottonwoods bear witness.
I had picked three or four poems at random. When I read this one, the image popped into my head of moms pushing baby buggies through the park. I didn't know if "seniors" meant senior citizens or seniors in college. So I contacted the author, and she said they were indeed senior citizens. So I thought, "Oh, this could be really funny." The image of seniors stretching on the grass seemed to produce an infinite number of possibilities.
I wasn't familiar with Onondaga Lake Park, so I went to check it out. It was early evening when I got there. Although this may sound weird, I really liked the lighting. It scattered really nicely, the way it passed through the leaves. So it was that feeling that I tried to convey in my illustration.