Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2023SYR02
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
The Finest Forelock
poster information
Description
The finest forelock,
primping feathers, wool and fur;
side eyes on the prize
I wrote my first poem when I was five years old. It included animals. My affinity for them was keen; I wanted to be with them, befriend them, and help them. I was painfully shy and barely spoke to people, but with animals…we shared a language. And so I pursued my dream, my purpose, of helping them by becoming a veterinary nurse.
My connection with Lydia’s illustration was immediate and deep. Memories of family Fair trips rushed in, and visiting the barns was always high on my list. When animals show their side eyes, they speak volumes. The words for the haiku were there, I just needed to tease them out.
Thank you for this creative opportunity. I am honored.
Shari Hemsley’s poem succinctly captures the unlikely stars of the fair: the cloven hooved, the side eyed, the woolly and the feathery. Her words honor the animals as much as the thrill of the fair itself.
It’s been a delight and an honor to participate in the Poster Project for a second time, fifteen years after the first. The project is a lovely reflection of the spirit of CNY as well as the people—and animals!—that live here.