Since the Summer Solstice, it’s been sunny and warm–just the way Summer should be! But, with a heat wave hovering about for a few weeks now, we could all use some relief! What better way to survive the heat than by reading some wonderful haiku from our archives which warmly reflect this Summertime occurrence!
When it’s hot, Joan Loveridge-Sanbonmatsu’s (Syracuse 2008) cheerful haiku describes one way to find some quick relief:
In Summer’s fierce heat
Sparrow hops into backyard
birdbath: cooling, splash.
Mary Gardner’s(Skaneateles 2003) vivid haiku reflects how Summer and the many opportunities for outdoor musical activities go hand-in-hand…despite the heat:
Heat hung low and haze Hinders not these hearts at play– Music in the square
The familiar sounds of a Summer’s heat wave are nicely reflected in Ellen Agnew’s (Syracuse 2005) spirited haiku:
Waves of locust songs ebb and flow with no excuse except Summer heat.
And, Ruthnie Angrand (Syracuse 2014) offers an energizing prescription for those of you who are fitness or sports minded and love Summer’s many opportunities to be outdoors:
Drip. Stew. Drive. Swelter. Severe heat and haze, focus. West. Run. Keep Running.
You can practically feel the heat of the street and its buildings with this beautifully illustrated haiku poster from our 2010 Series. Illustrated by former Syracuse University Illustration student, Hee Soo Cho, the poster heartily reflects the glowing words of Michael McAnaney’s haiku.
Summer sun mirrors / a gallery of faces / Salina glitters
Lastly, we’d like to thank our readers for their responses to our last blog (see Haiku For a Summer Solstice). We received this delightful Summertime haiku from Yvonne Kovits (Little Falls 2018)–there’s no denying the music of Summer found her poem! Thanks, Yvonne!
The Summer Solstice: a day to celebrate the first day of Summer! And with that, some of our favorite Summertime activities come alive with haiku from our archives!
From Jennifer Groff, (Lancaster 2010), a colorful haiku with great imagery and a wonderful play on words:
Freshly picked berries Summer-stained fingers and lips– memory preserves
So many rich Summer images in Nan Gartner’s, (Fayetteville 2011), haiku, too:
Purple Loosestrife and Yellow Finches brighten the Canal bikers’ path
From poet, Martin Willitts, Jr., (Syracuse 2011), an imaginative Summertime haiku with an interesting twist:
Syracuse Summer Heid’s hot dog clouds, ominous, digested by sun
Enjoying music and the outdoors–a favorite Summertime activity–lyrically described by Jay Cox, (Pompey, 2003):
Texas Blues drift with the moonlight through a Summer night in Clinton Square
From Meg Catanzarita, (Syracuse 2009), a Summer sports-themed haiku served up with another set of a rhythmic play on words:
Sedgwick Farm hosts love Red clay courts city players Singles anyone?
And, on the heels of the Summer Solstice, the long lazy days of Summer provide a time for reflection and pensive introspection. Our featured poster is from our 2018 Series. Wistfully written by long-time Syracuse Poster Project contributor, Omanii Abdullah, this Summer-themed poster was deliciously illustrated by Syracuse University Illustration student, Claudia Lewis.
I sold lemonade / back when times were innocent / and not bittersweet
As we observe the sunny arrival of the Summer Solstice, a double-edged haiku for you to ponder from first-time Syracuse Poster Project contributor, Charlie Carroll, (Manlius 2017):
Summer Solstice joy! Alas…now the slide begins T’wards Winter’s darkness.
Do you observe the Summer Solstice with a special tradition? What do you look forward to once Summer has arrived? Share your thoughts in a haiku in the comments below and we’ll add them to the next blog!
On Memorial Day, freedom is one of many blessings we celebrate. As a special day of remembrance, Memorial Day is also a reminder of the costs of freedom–including the costs to those we continue to protect against tyranny. As they make the oft-times wrenching decision to leave their homeland behind, people from around the globe who flee war, political oppression and poverty, hope that freedom, safety and a better life will one day be theirs.
One of the main themes of this year‘s Syracuse Poster Project Series was that of Syracuse as a City of Welcome–for the hundreds of refugees and immigrants who set sail for the United States, many land here in Central New York! Two artists, Nicora Gangi and Nada Odeh, were commissioned by the Poster Project to illustrate this theme. Local poets were given the opportunity to write and submit haiku inspired by the beautiful images displayed in the two posters. As you can see below, the haiku chosen for these two posters–one by long time Syracuse Poster Project contributor, Vinh Dang and the other, by poet, Jean Fahey–were splendid.
At the April unveiling, which happened to fall as it always does during National Poetry Month, artist, Nada Odeh, spoke of what inspired her to create her illustration and why she chose Vinh Dang’s haiku: “…. The boat image in my poster represents the crisis of the refugees seeking hope and a safe place to stay. It portrays a strong visual and overwhelming emotions while questioning how these people had to go through such harsh living conditions in their native countries. They are seeking refuge in another country and hoping to be welcome regardless of their origin or political status. The reason why I chose this haiku is because it speaks for me in a simple way and reminds me of how I feel about living in Syracuse.”
Poet, Vinh Dang, a quiet spoken gentleman, recalled his own journey from Vietnam to America and the challenges of building a new home in Syracuse while still keeping memories of his homeland close to his heart. His haiku was inspired by these memories, as he stated, “…But what most inspired me was the greyish blue smoke flowing out of each family’s thatched roof, where mothers and wives were cooking the evening meal, promising a sweet reunion of the whole family under an oil lamp.”
White clouds drifting where? Over ocean or dark wood. Homeland hearth–blue smoke
Artist, Nicora Gangi, was unable to attend the event’s festivities, but she writes about her work, “…. I envisioned a round table positioned at the center to illustrate symbolically a place where a culture meal is shared, one’s national stories can be told, and events past, present or future can be discussed. A variety of written languages decorated the borders of the image to refer to the nations. There is a Syracuse city skyline in the background to convey that the city is here to welcome all nations from around the globe.”
Ms. Gangi’s illustration spoke to Jean Fahey’s pride in Syracuse as a Sanctuary City. She writes, “…We are their beacon of hope, the promise for a better tomorrow. Our city was named for a beautiful city in Sicily by people who fled there to start a new life; for freedom and a chance to be anything they want to become. Since then, other people from different countries have fled here for different reasons but seeking the same dream. We are their light in the darkness. We are their new home.”
A beacon of hope, city of welcoming arms–a place to call home
You can find photos from the April unveiling event, here. Please be sure to check out the other beautiful and inspired posters from the 2018 Series, here, or in designated kiosks throughout downtown Syracuse. And, don’t forget, if you love these posters, you can always purchase them at our online shop, here!
So, if you are new to these pages or to our fair city of Syracuse…Welcome!
This is your home, you whisper in my ear. Here is where your roots will grow. By Karen Krull Robart
To celebrate this very special day, we searched our archive of haiku posters and found the wonderful gem below from our 2004 Series!
Written by frequent Syracuse Poster Project contributor, Marilyn Shelton, the colorful poster was illustrated by former Syracuse University illustration student, Aja Gibson.
Corner vendor shouts / Flowers! Flowers! Flowers! Makes / City women smile
Suddenly flowered dresses everywhere. Hurray! The snow has melted!
⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔⇔
On Thursday, April 19, please join us in celebrating the unveiling of our 2018 Syracuse Poster Project Series! Beginning at at 6 p.m., you’ll find us in our usual spot in the City Hall Commons Atrium, located at 201 E. Washington St., Syracuse. Wondering how to find City Hall Commons? Here’s the map.
The 2018 Series includes 14 posters created the traditional way–poster illustrations created by Syracuse University students and inspired by haiku written by Central New York poets. This year, students had 483 haiku to choose from: we had submissions from 81 returning participants and 56 new participants. With each participant submitting up to three haiku, we received a total of 251 new haiku. We then added haiku still active in our archives for a total of 1,101 active haiku, and then selected one haiku from each poet to pass along to the student artists. Many of the haiku selected by students for the 2018 Series were written by new participants!
In addition, we commissioned two specially themed posters this year, and invited poets to write haiku to complement the theme: Syracuse as a place of welcome to all people and cultures. We received 64 haiku submissions in response to the beautiful poster created by Nicora Gangi and chose a haiku by Jean Fahey to complement it. For the other poster, beautifully illustrated by Nada Odeh, a haiku by frequent Syracuse Poster Project contributor, Vinh Dang, was selected by the artist.
On Thursday evening, along with congratulating our 16 poets and artists, Darren Chavis, of Creole Soul Cafe, will be serving up some vegetarian jambalaya, blackened sausage, and creole chicken to munch on. We’ll also have tasty contributions from The Sweet Praxis and Wegman’s. Adding to the overall vibe of our festivities will be D.J. Bella, also known as Jasmine Coan, a LeMoyne College graduate who earned her D.J. credentials at Scratch Academy.
So, please do join us on Thursday evening, in Congratulating the 2018 Poet – Artist Pairs:
The evening promises to be a great opportunity to see all the new posters in one spot, meet the poets and artists, and mingle with friends of poetry and public art. So, dress up, come out, and party with the rest of our poster peeps!
See you there!
The Syracuse Poster Project
Our featured poster above is from our 2002 Series with a cheerfully Spring illustration and haiku by Jennifer Theiller and Mary Taitt, respectively!
It’s a day to revel in the sounds of bagpipes, bodhrans, Irish flutes and fiddles! And, it’s a great day for Irish dancing and singing of Danny Boy!
Dancers jig and clap Bagpipes blast a cheering tune Leprechauns skip by
By Gabrielle Gardner (Camillus 2013)
It’s a day that would be incomplete without corned beef and cabbage or a frothy Guinness Stout at your favorite Irish pub! Best of all, St Patrick’s Day is a sweet prelude to warmer weather!
on St. Patrick’s Day the city dances with green, welcoming Spring
Syracuse Poster Project is celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with haiku, of course, and we’re offering a specially themed poster from our 2014 Series at a 10% discount from our online shop here. The well-crafted haiku was written by self-published poet, Seneca Wilson, and colorfully illustrated by former Syracuse University Illustration Student, Erick Friely, now a professional Illustrator and Visual Development Artist based out of Oakland, CA. Learn more about Erick’s work here. We’ve even made a video of this fine poster for your viewing pleasure! Click here to view!
Luck of the Irish / Green beer, white snow, orange pride / Reversed traffic light
Remember that old saying, “When March comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb”? Well, let’s hope it holds true this year! Since March 1, Winter storms have wreaked havoc up and down the East Coast, dropping snow, rain and sleet from Hilton Head to Connecticut to London to the French Alps; they’ve caused power failures across New York State; and broken tree limbs are strewn about everywhere one looks! Quite a lion of a start if there ever was one!
As Michelle Miles (currently, in sunny and warm Amman, Jordan) wrote this week:
A haiku would say that springtime is on its way– but first, a detour!
Meanwhile, the not so melodious sounds of snow blowers, snow shovels and loud, rumbling snow plows, continue to break the sometimes eerie silence of softly falling snow! A search of our archives reveals many haiku contributed by Central New Yorkers who’ve contemplated our fierce Winter snow storms alongside the sound–and the glory–of these useful snow storm tools! Here are a few to consider as you look out your window at the falling March snow!
From Thomas Michael Duncan (East Syracuse 2011), you know it’s going to be a long day for the city’s snow plow driver:
Accumulations. The monstrous yellow machines remove snow–spread salt.
A beautiful image from Laura Ferrel (Skaneateles 2013):
Pre-dawn whirs and scrapes– a community chorus born of snowy nights
A familiar scene, aptly described by Chen Chen (Syracuse 2014) — read more about this talented A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize winning author here:
Just the front scraped clean– our car after blizzard wears a mullet of snow
Our featured poster is a fine tribute to Winter snow storms! It’s from our 2011 Series with the clever haiku by Jim Kenty(Syracuse 2008) and the colorful illustration by former Syracuse University Illustration student, Maura McGonagle.
Syracuse snowflakes / meet their fate on the blade of / my shovel of doom
Aside from waiting for Spring to arrive by mid-March, if we learn anything from late Winter snow storms, it’s learning to have patience. However, if your street doesn’t get plowed for hours, you may feel like Elizabeth Patton (Elbridge 2008), in her vivid haiku:
Armies of snowplows Invade snowbound neighborhoods Winter prison break
Or, rather than impatience, you may feel like Ellen Agnew (Syracuse 2005):
as snow plows lumber through the blizzard leftovers grateful cars make room
If you follow us on FaceBook and Twitter, or if you receive our newsletter, you know that St. Valentine’s Day is one of our favorite occasions! Over the last couple of years, besides highlighting love-themed haiku from our archives on this Blog, we have offered St. Valentine’s Day cards to download–free of charge–from our Website. With some, by adding your own words of love with a specially commissioned drawing, you have the perfect card for your special Valentine!
For this year’s card, we turned to long-time friend of the Syracuse Poster Project, William Padgett, for both his design skills and for his aesthetic and poetic sensibility. To view and download this latest addition to our special collection of St. Valentine’s Day cards, check out the “Free Stuff” section of our Website. Pictured below, this year’s card celebrates both St. Valentine’s Day and the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Cold Ice, Warm Heart. Happy Valentine’s Day!
And….speaking of the many ways we express love, please enjoy our featured haiku Poster below from our 2013 Series. The poster’s warm haiku was written by Tom Rhoads, who comments, “This particular haiku is really just about the love and loyalty of an old friend and how that love and loyalty is a special joy.” The poster was illustrated by former Syracuse University Illustration Student, Katie Hampton, now a Massachusetts-based artist/designer currently working as a Digital Production Design Specialist at Forrester Research in Cambridge, MA. Check out her collection of wonderful work here.
Old and loyal friend, waking to find pure fresh snow, leaps like a puppy.
If you like this poster, you can find it for sale in our Shop section of our Website here.
This February, have a wonderful St. Valentine’s Day! Enjoy the Winter Olympics! And, stay warm!
Rosalyn M. Carroll for The Syracuse Poster Project
If you’re on our mailing list, or follow us on social media, you know that we frequently highlight our activities and events with a short newsletter-style email blast. This short bulletin also features a poster from our archives that best matches our latest news–and, it’s usually offered at a special discount! (**See how you can get on our mailing list below!)
Our latest newsletter teases us out of our Winter doldrums with a wonderful haiku poster from our 2013 Series showcasing Columbus Circle on a bright Summer’s day. Written by Ricky Maeweather and illustrated by Walter Kampf-Lassin, this wonderful scene certainly allows us to forget–even for a moment–the cold, dreary weather we’ve been having this January!
large buildings stand tall / the center always crowded / square blocks building lofts
It will be a few months yet until the sun warms us up as it does in this bright haiku poster, but we are always warmed by the responses we receive from our followers to things we’ve written about in our newsletter–and, our blog!
In fact, we’d like to say ‘thanks’ to our long-time–and now, long-distance–friend of the Syracuse Poster Project, Patricia Rickard, for her comment to our Columbus Circle dispatch. From sunny Florida, where she is researching publishers for her book, ‘The Complete Guide to Child-Centered Musical Theater’, Patricia writes, “I hear from family and friends back in Syracuse and the North Country that Winter is already old and cold, and it’s only January. Spring will eventually come to Syracuse in two more months!! So, close your eyes and be transported with this Haiku!”
Sun, Sea, Sand, Blue Skies; Palm Trees Sway, Seagulls Swooping; Red Hibiscus Bloom!
How simply marvelous…can you feel the warmth, now, of a soft, sunny blue day in January? Thank you, Patricia!
So, hang in there all you Central New Yorkers…it’s almost February!!
Rosalyn M. Carroll for the Syracuse Poster Project
**If you’d like to join our mailing list to receive news about our activities, invitations to submit poetry and notices of shopping deals, please contact us here. We’ll keep you informed by email and occasionally by direct postal mail. Rest assured, we do not share contact information or email addresses.
Snow and slush and sleet and rain and hail–and sun!–and clouds and ice and salt.
Typical of January, it’s been cold and snowy–and everything else inbetween–as mischievously described in Matt Tompkins’ (Owego 2013) haiku above. Dark frigid nights seem to last forever this time of year, too, though daylight is (thankfully) lasting longer. Haiku has the perfect ability to express these Winter days in such a way that you can nearly forget it’s January…well, almost! Try warming up with these few other haiku found in our archives and written by our wonderful contributors.
When it’s not too cold or blustery, January offers a great time to be outdoors. In this colorful haiku, poet Lee Savidge (Liverpool 2013) sets a sensory mood for a day skiing. Can you feel the anticipation?…the thrill of a good day on the slopes?…not noticing the cold on your face?
Perfect packed powder, exhilarating ski trails– lean forward and smile!
In just a few words, Kate Stewart’s (Cazenovia 2012) haiku beautifully describes a different kind of sensory experience only known during the long Winter months:
Snow diamonds twinkle. Crisp night air, I hear only Softly, gliding skis.
Like skiing, if you have ever snowshoed, you know you’ve left an indelible path on your journey. If it should snow overnight, you might have trouble finding that path again in the morning. But on a clear, moonlit night, you might not have any problem at all–as cleverly described in Joan Cofrancesco’s haiku (Camillus 2001):
moon looms over pines along the Beaver Lake trail snowshoes left behind
Reminiscent of the first ‘no school day’ of January, our featured haiku poster is from our 2014 Series. The haiku, with the wonderful play on words, was written by Dianne Emmick and richly illustrated by former Syracuse University student, Ash Merkel, now a working artist whose fine illustrations, sketches and ceramic work can be found here.
Cars trapped in driveways. / Skiers glide softly mid—street / Making morning tracks.
Speaking of ‘snow days’ have you noticed the neighborhood kids with their sleds? Do you remember, as a kid yourself, climbing that big hill in your own backyard, dragging up your new red Flying Saucer, holding on tight and getting that head-start of a push from behind? If you do, you’ll enjoy this haiku by Elisabeth Anderson, (Lafayette 2001):
We haul our sleds up, and push off. Trees blur, snow leaps aside. We can fly!
All in all, when you have a haiku warming your insides, January isn’t too bad! Do you have a Winter haiku to share? Send it in the comments below and we will post it in our next Blog! As Thomas Stock(Fort Plain 2014) cheerily writes, Winter can be a sensory feast:
I am your haiku in red ski vest gliding through your white city park
Remember back when it was December 31, 2016? When January 1, 2017 was just the beginning of another new year? You may ask, where’d the time go? Or, perhaps you reminisced about all the ups and downs of 2016. But, here we are, the first week of another new year already behind us! The Holidays are officially over and Winter is here with a frightful blast of cold and grey! What better time than to sit and reflect on all the things that kept us warm and busy during 2017!
For the Syracuse Poster Project, 2017 was a particularly good year. We saw several fruitful collaborations established, many ideas realized, and met some new friends along the way.
Fruitful Collaborations! Coinciding with the Erie Canal Bicentennial, we joined statewide festivities by issuing a special Erie Canal themed poster for our 2017 Poster Series. We commissioned Tong “Amy” Su, a graduate student in the Syracuse University Illustration Program, to illustrate a scene for our poets to respond to. Su created a lively bird’s-eye view of canal commerce with the winning haiku coming from Ross Getman.
canal side commerce / briefcase, balloon, umbrella / echoes of past steps
We then teamed up with the Erie Canal Museum to win a grant from Tomorrow’s Neighborhoods Today for an installation of our Erie Canal Poster at the Museum. We reproduced Su’s historic Canal poster in triplicate—the original poster flanked by two enlargements—and installed these three panels on the exterior of the Museum’s storage building.
From former windows on the second story, the Canal posters overlook Erie Boulevard.
Erie Canal Museum
On the heels of this successful rendering, we found ourselves collaborating with the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, host of the World Canals Conference, to produce a commemorative poster for the Conference which took place in Syracuse this past September. Tong “Amy” Su’s work for the Poster Series was so appealing, we asked her to develop another poster to promote the Conference. The stunning result prompted the organizers to purchase 50 of her beautiful posters as gifts for their speakers at the Conference!
World Canals Conference Poster
Something New! Thanks to the ubiquity of smartphones, we’ve become a video nation. The Poster Project joined the flow this year with a series of splashy videos produced largely by enthusiastic volunteers and, in one instance, by professional videographers.
We proudly passed these monies to the charity of our choice—CNY Arts—for its good work advancing arts and culture in Central New York. Click here to read about Jim Emmons’ winning entry and video and click here to read about the other winners of the Foundation’s 2017 contest.
Our next series of video productions took flight thanks to a volunteer, Priya Narayanan, who briefly graced us with her filmmaking skills. Priya studied information technology and taught herself filmmaking on the side. She joined us just before the opening celebration for the 2017 Poster Series. She dashed off a series of video portraits from the event, produced a video on our travelling exhibit at the Upstate Cancer Center, and, for her last work, whipped together a piece on Art on the Porches—click here to view her work at this annual event and here for videos from the 2017 Poster Event. Over the summer, we had to say goodbye to Priya as she and her husband moved to Delaware. We’ll miss working with her!
We’re tempted to call 2017 the year of Splash Poetry! Our story is often one of circling back: we get excited about an idea, but can’t find the time or resources to pull it off. It simmers on a back burner for a year or more, until finally we stir it again, add the right ingredients, and serve it up. That’s how it was with our Splash Poetry Project.
Joe Murphy
Board member, Joe Murphy, was exploring civic poetry groups in other parts of the country when he discovered Mass Poetry doing something fun: stenciling poetry on sidewalks with special spray paint that only shows up when rained upon or splashed with water! This seemed tailor made for our haiku—and for rainy Syracuse Summers! But, the idea had to mature for a year or so until the time was right to bring it to term.
Finally last Spring, along with an uplifting, out-of-the blue, contribution from the Central New York Community Foundation, Joe and fellow board member, Jason Evans, kick-started the conception and our Splash Poetry Project was born! Together, they designed stencils, had them laser cut, and then stenciled site-specific haiku at 10 downtown locations. (Click here to see where the splash haiku were initially placed.)
Joe Murphy and Jason Evan
When the original poems washed away, we stenciled them again. But, this time, we hired a pair of professional videographers, Michael Barletta and Courtney Rile, of Daylight Blue Media, to document our appropriately named, Splash Poetry Project. They did an excellent job, both of filming as Joe and Jason stenciled poems on downtown sidewalks, and of editing the footage into a vivid portrait of civic art in action! This was our first experience with the power of professional filmmaking, and we’re delighted to have joined forces with Mike and Courtney. Click here to view this wonderful video! Keep an eye out for more Splash Poetry in the warmer months of 2018.
Over the summer, we worked with executive director of CNY Jazz, Larry Luttinger, to install large-format jazz-themed posters in the newly renovated lobby of Jazz Central. The display consists of two posters on panels, with a third panel in storage for periodic change outs. The Poster featured here is from our 2010 Series. The Jazz-themed haiku was written byElisabeth Anderson and the poster illustrated by Eric Johannian adjunct faculty member of the Art Department at Phoenix College.
Carbonated jazz, sloe gin soul with open mic, two drink minimum.
Sales benefit both the Onondaga County Library System and Syracuse Poster Project. As we diversify our engagement with civic art, we view these literary posters as belonging to that realm. You’ll also see that we worked with the Central Library to install a library-themed poster, like the one below, next to the third floor elevator. The Poster featured here is from our 2003 Series and was written by Janine DeBaiseand illustrated by former Syracuse University Illustration student, Christopher Savido,whose portraitof former President George Bush created quite a stir in 2004.
Rows and rows of books Lure me into their pages I leave with arms full
New Board Members, Volunteers and Interns! After a period of attrition—veteran board members retiring from the board—2017 was a year for board growth. We’re now enjoying the energy and skills of several newcomers, including: Anna Putintseva, a lawyer with Bousquet Holstein; Lindsay Speicher, a community liaison at Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield; Adam Rozum, an independent designer and owner of Polonaise European Market; Jason Evans, an architect at Ashley McGraw; Gwen Morgan, a media specialist at LeMoyne College; and Chris Montgomery, a jobs specialist at SUNY Educational Opportunity Center.
We were also fortunate to have several new volunteers join us, including: Naomi Coufal, John Kulak and Brittney Cason. And, of course, we’d be lost without our long-standing volunteers, sponsors and partners as well as our Interns who work with us for a short period of time, but produce phenomenal work. (Click here to see a list of our interns from over the past few years.)
For example, before we said our goodbyes to our hard-working Spring semester intern, Naomi Masingale, she was the subject of a photo documentary by photographer, Nancy Kasberg, who came to us from the Military Journalism Program at SU’s Newhouse School of Public Communication.
Naomi Masingale
This wonderful narrative slideshow, complete with Naomi’s voice over, walks you through her internship experience with us. (Click here to view this video!) Congratulations to Naomi who graduated this past year with a Masters in Arts Administration from LeMoyne College!
In addition, our student interns were paramount to tweaking our website this year! For a small organization, we have a robust website. With help from web development interns, we added significant features to our growing presence on the web. Most notably, we re-established an interactive map that shows all locations that have given rise to posters over the years, with links to corresponding posters, artists, and poets–since our founding in 2001, more than 500 poets have submitted haiku! The map first existed on a Google platform, until Google discontinued the service. It was then in hiatus for a couple of years until we took on an intern, Xi Chen, capable of investigating a new platform. Thanks to Xi and her successor, Yunhui Zhu, we now share our interactive map via Mapbox. You can explore a map that shows where poets come from, which municipalities or neighborhoods are most poetic, and where the hotspots of poetic energy come from! To see the map, visit our Participate page and scroll down. Find your haiku poster here!
The website now has an improved Photo Gallery Section where visitors can quickly peruse both the Poster Series archived by year (click here to view) and/or photos from the annual unveiling events (click here to see these). And, the Shop section of our website took on two new categories: one for literary posters promoting the Rosamond-Gifford Lecture Series as mentioned above; another for graphic work by Syracuse artists working in veins similar to ours.
More on Information Technology! What end-of-year summary would be complete without a report from the IT Department? Frankly, we wish we had an IT department! It would be incredibly helpful. Nevertheless, in our measured way, we made IT strides in 2017. With a grant from the Central New York Community Foundation, we bought three high-performance laptops, installed new accounting and graphics software, and subscribed to the cloud computing services of Office 365. All of which enables us to take on more interns and volunteers, and to work with them efficiently.
Funding! We remain a small nonprofit organization supported by product sales, corporate sponsorship, and charitable grants—no dedicated year-to-year funding. As challenging as it is to raise funds, we experienced bright spots in 2017. We brought on three new corporate sponsors–TCGPlayer, Bousquet Holstein and Drive Research— and saw a longstanding sponsor, Byrne Dairy, significantly boost its sponsorship.
In the New Year!With our new computer resources, we’re well positioned to begin work with a growing roster of interns and volunteers. These new hands should help us produce the 2018 Poster Series and move on to tasks that sometimes exceed our resources: applying for grants, refining our website, developing new products and projects.
In fact, we’re already underway with a specially commissioned poster from Nicora Gangi for our 2018 series on the theme of Syracuse as a place of welcome for all people and cultures. Jean Fahey’s fine haiku was selected to match this poster which will be unveiled in April.
A beacon of hope City of welcoming arms A place to call home
We will further this theme by reviving our Cards for New Americans Project. We initiated the cards project several years ago with partial funding. The idea is to issue packs of notecards as welcome gifts for new Americans at their naturalization ceremonies. In 2018, we’ll resume fundraising and see the project to completion.
Incidentally, our featured Poster is from the 2010 Series; the haiku written by Wendy Moleski and poster illustrated by Gina Kim:
The last dish is fired Kiln’s cooled, now the auction starts Good—bye my old friend
Thank You! As you see by these few highlights, 2017 was a very productive year for us. We could not have done this without the loyal support of our friends, board members, volunteers, interns and our families. Thank you for your continued support of the Syracuse Poster Project!
Happy New Year to you!
Jim Emmons with Rosalyn M. Carroll for the Syracuse Poster Project
The Holidays! Oh, the excited anticipation of them all! The planning and the decorating; the ever-changing shopping lists–two miles long; the food and the get-togethers with all that wine! And, then there’s the writing out of Christmas cards and the wrapping of presents; the lighting of candles and the Yuletide tree; the sounds of music in the air, at the school concert and in stained-glassed churches everywhere!
Phew! So, between the stress and the laughter, we’d like to offer you these few haiku from our archives to brighten your celebration of this season of light and love, hope and peace!
The holidays are Cookie Exchanges and building Gingerbread Houses with the kids:
Gingerbread delights The Erie Canal is trimmed With giggles and smiles!
Or, they’re a night time drive through darkened snowy streets for a visual treat; where Christmas and candle lights brighten neighborhood windows and lampposts, doorways and rooftops:
Levitating lights Vivid vista sparkling home Where the heart is full
Our featured Poster Illustrates just such a scene. The haiku poster is from our 2009 Series. The cheerful haiku was written by Nancy Liccione (Clay 2003) and brightly illustrated by former Syracuse University Illustration Student, Yealim Kong, now a Home Textile & Graphic Designer based in New York City.
Nighttime in the Square / Tree lighting and carols sung / Skaters mingle there
However you spend these last few days of 2017, we wish you a warm and merry Holiday Season!
Ripped fingertip gloves Cold keys and warm melodies Fill dark streets with light
It’s “Over the river and through the woods” time! While some families are packing up the car to travel far and wide for the long weekend, others are preparing for the long-awaited arrival of loved ones. From our 2003 Series, this featured haiku poster nicely captures the spirit of arriving home with the hubbub of holiday activity downtown. The haiku was written by long-time contributor, Claire Bobrycki, and illustrated by former Syracuse University student, Sarah Mellgren.
Long drive, weary eyes— / Cityscape lights the night sky / Syracuse, I’m home!
It’s Turkey stuffing days! While plump turkeys are roasting and all manner of pies baking, there are those tracking tackles and downs, too.
Spiral in the air Raucous cheering of the crowd Pigskin in the zone
Susan Bigler (Liverpool 2009)
It’s still Autumn! Leaves have fallen, leaving trees mostly dark and bare.
Fading sun spot lights Roosting crows in bare fall trees, Night black fruit to pick.
It’s the “Holidaze” season! Grocery stores are stuffed with shoppers while traffic delays are just beginning as Christmas Holiday sales lure folks to the mall.
Produce from the earth In crowded marketplaces Displayed with purpose
Sharon Rorer (Syracuse 2006)
It’s time to sit in front of a cozy fire burning in the fireplace! From our 2014 Series, this featured haiku poster was beautifully created by former Syracuse University illustration student, Andrew Casadonte, (now a storyboard artist at DreamWorks TV Animation), using the fine phrasing of another of our long-time contributors, Paul Goat Allen.
Winter is coming / wool socks and long underwear / the long sleep is near
We hope we’ve made your Thanksgiving Holiday a bit richer with these wonderful poems gathered from our archives of contributed haiku! And, if you’re looking for a special Christmas gift for the poet or artist in your family, be sure to check out our Shop Pagefor some great ideas!
It’s Halloween! Pumpkins are carved, costumes are at the ready, stuffed candy bowls wait patiently for trick-or-treaters.
On cold, dark porch steps, Jack O’Lanterns grin and wait. Beware, you tricksters! Rosalyn M. Carroll, (Manlius 2015)
With a harvest moon drifting lazily overhead, stormy skies and thick fog are the perfect backdrop for ghoulish sights on Halloween night.
October moon hangs spectral light and shadows fall luminous clouds fly Karl Krohl, (Syracuse 2015)
Dry leaves rustle in the wind, owls who-hoot at midnight and ghosts roam the shadows of Syracuse. Oh my!
On the old canal, a ghost barge drifts soundlessly a fallen leaf rides. Michael Sickler, (Minoa 2012)
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Lilac vapor trail Landmark Theater ghost performs one more curtain call Sheila Forsyth, (Fayetteville 2011)
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The ghosts of yester sequestered in their oak grove welcome each new dawn Garrett Heater, (Syracuse 2015)
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Our featured haiku poster is from our 2013 Series. Poet, Robin Gross, and former Syracuse University Illustration Student, Dylan Allen, whose work was recently exhibited at Apostrophe’s Art Gallery in Syracuse, have created a hauntingly beautiful recipe for a spooky Halloween night!
Under Harvest Moon / Landmark Theatre Ghost Shrieks / Boo! Trick Or Treat Me
As you can see, Halloween conjures up a cauldron-full of images, feelings and memories, too. We hope you have enjoyed these Halloween-inspired haiku from our archives!
Ghosts of trains, whispers of smoke, standing at the old station, long ago Catherine Foster, (Soddy Daisy, TN 2013)
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Grand Ballroom twilight costumed masqueraders grin tricks and treats within Abigail Lent, (Baldwinsville 2017)
As the end of Summer draws near, sturdy Sunflowers still stand shoulder high. While their full-seeded heads seem to be nodding, Farewell, their brilliant shades of yellow add a unique dimension to the colorful arrival of Autumn.
From our archives, we found some Sunflower-themed haiku to share with you–what better way to show our appreciation for this beautiful flower that bridges Summer into Autumn!
Brilliant sunflowers cast against slate sky, red birds fly in for dinner by Sheila Forsyth (Fayetteville 2008)
Lofty sunflowers arrayed in golden splendor heads above the rest by Sharon Rorer (Syracuse 2007)
Van Gogh Sunflowers paint themselves across the fields Camillus, New YorkbyJoan Cofrancesco(Camillus 2009)
From our 2010 Syracuse Poster Project Series, our featured haiku poster was written by Claire Bobryckiand illustrated by former Syracuse University student, Catherine LaPointe, now a children’s book illustrator and graphic designer–see more of her wonderful work here.
Blue Moon, Big Dipper / Sunflowers under porch lights / Peace on the South Side
We conclude with three more gems:
Sunflowers drooping looking for a warm embrace oh, where is the sun? byKelly Bargabos (Syracuse 2010)
Sunflower faces a swoosh of yellow and black: goldfinch dinnertime byEllen Barnes (Syracuse 2014)
A smile on your face is brighter than sunflowers at the farmer’s stand byJungtae Lee (Syracuse 2006)
We hope you’ve enjoyed our brief tribute to the Sunflower! What do you see when you gaze upon a Sunflower?
We recently announced our call for haiku for the 2018 Syracuse Poster Project Series. The deadline for submissions is Friday, September 8!
Stuck for an idea? Why not visit the newly redeveloped Morningside Cultural Trail? In fact, its official Grand Opening Event is Wednesday, September 6 at the Barry Park Field House. Festivities begin at 5:30 pm. Learn more about the opening event here and a brief history of the project here. Celebrating Syracuse’s Eastside, with its 7-mile walking path, the Morningside Cultural Trail crosses through three notable neighborhoods (Map) and includes a Public Arts Pathway (Map). For photos of the Trail, check out their Facebook page here. With trails meandering through Oakwood Cemetery (Map), the Morningside Cultural Trail offers interesting reflections–just the kind you might need to write some haiku!
There is much to learn about Oakwood Cemetery. Its assortment of mausoleums and monuments have inspired several haiku from our haiku contributors. From Peggy Liuzzi(Syracuse 2014) a fine sensory approach to haiku:
With each step, dry leaves / speak of memories. Oakwood / whispers Autumn’s song
And, from Mark Shevalier (Henderson 2007), a warm reflection inspired by a walk through Oakwood’s hallowed grounds:
And there they all sleep / Beneath the earth and granite / Oakwood their fine bed
Visitors to Barry Park may find a tennis game going on or kids playing soccer–just like Meganne Oakleaf (Fayetteville 2010) did in her cheerful haiku:
Fall sees Barry Park / ablaze with colorful leaves; / soccer jerseys, too.
At Barry Park Pond / black-webbed geese crowd two children. / Small hands tear soft bread.
Meadowbrook and Westcott, two of the neighborhoods the Morningside Cultural Trail crosses through, has inspired several haiku from our contributors–including this one from Jane Cassidy which, in turn, inspired this beautiful poster from our 2006 Series by former Syracuse University illustration student, Natalie Zuk:
Unexpectedly / a stone staircase in the woods— / very Narnian
Walk the Morningside Cultural Trail and Get Inspired!
A call for haiku is now underway for the Syracuse Poster Project’s 17th annual series of haiku posters! In fact, you’re invited! Please consider participating in this community-wide event by submitting up to three (3) of your best haiku which reflect our fair city’s multi-cultural heart, the Central New York countryside or Syracuse at large!
In addition, we have commissioned Syracuse artist, Nicora Gangi, to create a poster giving you the unique opportunity–in essence, an Ekphrastic challenge–to write at least one (1) haiku inspired by her wonderful image! That image being, fittingly enough, of our city as a place of welcome to all people and cultures. Ms. Gangi will select the winning haiku. To read a review of her superb work, click here.
Each haiku you submit before Friday, September 8 will be presented to a senior class of Syracuse University illustration students. Ultimately, your haiku may be chosen to be illustrated by one of these students! Of all the posters created, 15 of the best haiku posters will be selected for display in downtown Syracuse kiosks next April, 2018.
Need inspiration? Not sure how to capture a moment? Consider how these frequent contributors approach writing haiku–
Walk…along an Erie Canal pathway, where, as Rosalyn Carroll(Manlius 2007), writes:
Wildflowers sway bright / Dragonflies buzz and fish bite / Erie traffic hums
Watch…as Debra Alexis (Jamesville 2016) does:
Moonbeams hitch a ride / onto lazy waves, while the / leaves flutter and fall
Walking by the lake / Icy winds that sear my soul. / My cheeks are burning!
Remember, any season, any place, any subject–write about your experiences in a haiku using three lines of 5, 7, 5 syllables, and submit your poems by September 8, 2017. For further details, click here for this year’s brochure. For additional entry materials, click here. If you’re new to writing haiku, click here for general guidelines. Find more good haiku by local poets in this poetry blog.
Summertime, when days are warm and humid…we’ve had a few of them here in Central New York recently. It’s days like these that make Summer simmer (no pun intended)! If you’re a frequent reader of this blog, you know that we often highlight seasonal themes, sometimes focusing on singular characteristics of the season we’re in. Hot, humid and hazy Summer days happen to be the subject of many haiku found in our archives contributed by Central New York poets. We thought it would be timely to add these to our Blog before Summer ‘daze’ slip away.
There’s a unique sound to warm Summer days. You can practically hear the sultriness in this fine haiku written by frequent Syracuse Poster Project contributor, Ellen Agnew (Syracuse 2005):
waves of locust songs ebb and flow with no excuse except Summer heat
Along with spindly grasshoppers, the sound of crickets and cicadas are even more noticeable when days are long and warm. It’s easy to imagine the captivating scene detailed in Anna Pyrohanych’s(Auburn) colorful 2012 haiku:
Sun sets, moon rises– Shimmer across still waters… Summer crickets sing
When there’s a stretch of days in the high 80’s, even the inevitable thunderstorm offers little relief, as perfectly described inKarl Krohl’s(Syracuse) 2015 haiku:
Thunderheads tower Summer, a breathless haze–still the cicadas drone
From our 2006 Poster Series, former Syracuse University Illustration student, Lauren Katz, beautifully conceived Jane Cassady’s (Philadelphia 2005) fine haiku:
Humid moon rises / over the stopped clock tower / like a real city
Now that it’s August, you can forget the heat with this delightful haiku by another frequent Syracuse Poster Project contributor,Mary Gardner (Skaneateles 2003):
Heat hung low and haze Hinders not these hearts at play– Music in the square
Speaking of music, don’t let the heat deter you from enjoying the other sounds of Summer as Sheila Forsyth’s (Fayetteville 2008) haiku vividly describes:
Sizzling riffs from sax “Jazz in the City” heats up Cool, full moon evening
Finally, there’s no doubt we’ve all shared Michele Reed’s (Oswego) feelings from time to time as crisply expressed in her 2015 haiku:
sound of cicadas on a sultry Summer’s eve and I dream of snow
What do you find distinctive about warm Summer days? However you spend these remaining hot, hazy ‘daze’, stay cool!
In just a few syllables, Haiku are a perfect way to capture a scene, a memory, or even a mood. Regardless the season–or time of day–clouds can do pretty much the same thing. Mountainous thunderstorm clouds can be majestic. Serene, wispy cirrus clouds can make a sunset heavenly. In color and shape, or by how quickly they’re moving, clouds will let you know if you need to carry an umbrella or if you’re likely to rev up the snowblower–in which case, if they’re very low and grey, you might consider going back to bed! But, on a bright Summer’s day, when clouds are drifting lazily, high in the sky, watching these seemingly magical shapeshifters is pure joy.
From our archives of contributed haiku, we’ve selected a cloud-themed few for your Summer reading pleasure. Can you tell which season the poet is describing? Have you ever experienced the same feelings as expressed in the haiku? Do you remember a day the clouds were just like those characterized by the poet?
From Cynthia Perrine (Fabius 2015):
Sun breaks through the clouds / Mist rises from the water / Day begins anew
One, then two at once! / Colorful balloons drift east / Low clouds they vanish…
From Diane Lansing (Syracuse 2014):
Dragonfly’s kiss makes / once still pond pulsate rings of / fractured clouds and trees.
From our 2004 Syracuse Poster Project Series, a wonderful display of Summer. The haiku was written by Jennifer Sanford and the poster illustrated by Cally Jones, former Syracuse University Illustration student.
Summer breezes lift / gull and dragon kites across / Onondaga Lake
Wishing you carefree Summer days where, as Rosalyn M. Carroll (Manlius 2017) writes:
Daydreaming on a / Cotton candy cloud–oh, the / Places I can see
At long last, it’s coming on Summer! From our archive of contributed haiku, we’ve found a few to highlight the return of this sunny season.
Spring flowers have faded, making way for bright Summer blooms. Everything’s comin’ up roses, too, as vividly described by Joan Loveridge-Sanbonmatsu (Syracuse), in her 2011 haiku:
A burst of petals flame red, melon, pale yellow Summer rose gardens
After a long Winter and wet Spring, neighbors are slowly emerging from their homes, greeting each other like old friends. Beth Miller (Auburn) skillfully creates such a scene in her 2015 haiku:
Warm friendly greetings Summer on South Geddes Street Flowers lead to porches
Outdoors, there’s the sound of lawns being mowed and the comforting smell of fresh cut grass. Green grass and Summer–there is nothing quite like it as Thomas Stock (Ft. Plain 2014) describes in his mirthful haiku:
Cool clover carpet seduce my bare feet with dew Summer night, you muse!
The arrival of Summer also means weekends are suddenly booked with music festivals, sporting activities, sun gazing and weddings! Our featured poster from our 2004 Series notes this traditional season for wedding celebrations with a cleverly written haiku by Ralph Long, Jr. and a beautiful illustration by Elizabeth Couturier, former Syracuse University Illustration student.
In a Rose Garden / at the top of Campus Hill / wedding dresses bloom
Of course, Summer’s arrival also means construction season is underway everywhere you turn. When artfully expressed in a haiku, such as this one by Dianne Apter (Syracuse 2015), delays don’t seem quite as dreadful:
Summer highway rite Orange cones stretched forever A sea of detours
How do you welcome Summer? Write us a haiku in the Comments and we’ll publish it next time on our blog.
Run run Jerry run / freedom is at hand oh Lord / helpful hands stretch out by Pat Flowers (Columbus 2006)
Originally referred to in the late 1860’s as Decoration Day–a day of remembrance when mourners could grace the graves of the Civil War’s dead with flowers–Memorial Day became a national holiday in 1971. It remains a day of solemn observance; a day reserved to honor and remember all Americans who have died while serving in our country’s military service.
Heroes defended / Liberty and freedom rang / Stars and stripes rippled by Michelle Miles (Amman, Jordan 2016)
Memorial Day is also a day to celebrate our freedom, the unique cause that these American servicemen and servicewomen died for.
Souls of the soldiers / march and quiet names surround / Freedom’s arena by Mark Shevalier (Henderson 2007)
Over the last few decades, Memorial Day has also come to be known as the unofficial start of Summer. Marked with patriotic parades, major sporting events, family gatherings and barbecues, Memorial Day is still a shared American tradition.
Our featured haiku poster this Memorial Day is from our 2004 Series. It was written by frequent contributor, Jay Cox and illustrated by former Syracuse University student, Steve Kim. We think you’ll agree, the poster exemplifies the beauty of our monuments to peace, freedom and remembrance.
The blue sky ripples / and clouds stream by in the water / fountain reflections
However you observe this Memorial Day–whether it’s laying a wreath or raising a flag, marching along with a parade or gathering with family, watching a ballgame or enjoying the evening’s fireworks–safe travels!
Birds coax forth the dawn. / She smiles and all turns golden. / Our lake beams its thanks… by Patricia Ziemba (Syracuse 2010)
Along with their families and friends, several of our featured poets, artists and students turned out for this yearly Spring celebration.
With music by D.J. Bella, Jasmine Coan,
D.J. Bella – Jasmine Coan
and tasty Hors-D’oeuvres by Creole Soul Cafe, the evening moved smoothly from brief introductions by Jim Emmons (co-founder of the Syracuse Poster Project) and John Thompson (Illustration Professor at Syracuse University) to the haiku readings and acknowledgements of the night’s Poets and Artists.
Jim Emmons with poet & SPP blogger, Rosalyn Carroll
Of course, the evening would not have been possible without the valued assistance of our enthusiastic interns and volunteers (click here to read more); our committed Board Members (click here to read more),
Joe Murphy, Board Member
or our dedicated Sponsors and Supporters (click here to read more)!
Once again, the Atrium, at the City Hall Commons, proved to be the perfect spot to exhibit the kiosk-sized haiku posters. The excitement upon entering through the Atrium doors was unmistakable!
Syracuse University Illustration Students
What a thrill to slowly walk down the exhibit hall, watching poets find their poster, listening to artists and poets meeting for the first time, mingling with the crowd and oohing and ahhing at every poster!
Cannon David, artist
On May 1, the new 2017 Series Posters were mounted in specially designated kiosks throughout the downtown Syracuse area.
2017 Haiku Poster on Display
They are also for sale on our web page. In fact, check out our online store here for all our haiku posters, cards, books and other Syracuse Poster Project paraphernalia.
You will find other short videos of the evening by clickinghere! A very special thank you to our volunteer, Priya Balaji, for catapulting us into new video territory with these wonderful shorts!
Reading Haiku & Talking Art!
Go to our Facebook page to see other photos from the evening’s events!
Abigail Lent, poet
Our thanks, again, to all who made this a very special evening of community, poetry and art!
You’re invited to the 16th Annual Syracuse Poster Project unveiling event of our 2017 series! Mark your calendar for Friday evening, April 14 from 6 – 8 p.m. We’ll be celebrating in the Atrium at City Hall Commons, 201 East Washington Street, Syracuse.
Need a reason to dress up? Come and meet the poets and artists of this year’s poster series! Along with friends, family and other supporters of public art, please enjoy with us a light reception of hors d’oeuvres, drink and music!
To add to the merriment, sit and listen as our featured poster poets read their haiku.
And, of course, our wonderful new posters will be displayed along the glass walls of the Atrium!
Prints of the new posters, as well as other items from Syracuse Poster Project, will be on sale during the event. (Click here to view our online Shop.)
Our congratulations again to the 16 poets and Syracuse University Illustration students (respectively) who are featured in our 2017 poster series: Rosalyn Carroll / Bobby Davison; Chen Chen/ Carly Wright; Sheila Forsyth / Cannon David; Ross Getman / Tong “Amy” Su; Linda Griggs / Tatiana Diaz; Abigail Lent / Mack Muller; Peggy Liuzzi / Geani Sanabria; Tara Miner / Lara Hirschberg; Kiru Morrissette / Kelly O’Neill; William Padgett / Autumn Wilson; Nicholas Petrone / Marisa Rother; Tanya Raymond / Lara Hirschberg; Erin Stepowany / Laura Mead; Susan Stiles / Amber Roach; Robert Stone / Monica S. Rexach Ortiz; and Elizabeth Westfall / Gabriella Silverstein.
These featured poets can thank a combination of skill and luck for rising to the top, given the large number of participants again this year. A striking total of 125 poets submitted 260 fresh haiku. We added these to 717 active haiku from past entries, then selected one haiku from each poet to pass along for consideration by the student artists. Bottom line: as a group, Syracuse University artists had a total of 414 haiku to consider!
Our student artists created 24 posters, from which 16 were selected. The selection committee consisted of Laurie Reed and Bethany Holbrook, of the Downtown Committee; Professors John Thompson and Marty Blake, of the Syracuse University Illustration Program; and Jason Evans and Jim Emmons, board members of the Syracuse Poster Project.
We hope you’ll be able to join us and we look forward to seeing you on Friday evening! But, if you should happen to miss the evening’s festivities,be sure to look for this year’s posters in the kiosks dotting downtown Syracuse. They’re expected to be on view by May 1.
Pink clouds dot the sky Black crows fly past crescent moon A change of weather
by Peter Allen (Syracuse 2013)
Whether or not you care much about the weather, it is one of the major topics of conversation anywhere, anytime, anyhow, no matter the day or the time of year. It pretty much affects everything around us and everything we do. We, at Syracuse Poster Project, would rightfully guess that we receive more haiku written about weather–like the fine poem above–than about any other subject!
Changes in the weather often signal a change in the season, too. For instance, in Central New York today, while the calendar may say Spring, the weather these past few weeks has been mostly cold, dismally grey and, well…cold. In fact, on St. Patrick’s Day–usually a fine day to celebrate the imminent arrival of Spring–there were snowbanks here that were as high as an elephant’s eye! The tulips and daffodils that had started to peek out from the cold March ground were quickly sent packing.
Moving from March to April isn’t always easy or fast. Thank goodness for Haiku to put this change of season into perspective! Take, for example, this poignantly expressive haiku from frequent Syracuse Poster Project contributor, Jay Cox (Pompey, 2001):
Or, consider the perspective found in this uplifting haiku from Anton Ninno (Syracuse, 2008):
Last snow of the year crashes down, heavy and wet young buds shake it off
From Craig Overbeck, (Fayetteville, 2015), a stirring haiku with an artistic glimpse of what awaits us this Spring:
To the south, rain falls. Gray brushstrokes sweep from dark clouds To paint the hills green.
We think you’ll agree, this warm and delightful haiku by Rachel Guido deVries (Cazenovia, 2001) enriches any conversation about the weather or change of season. Her words create a feeling beautifully captured in this poster from our 2015 Series by former Syracuse University Illustration student, Lise Sukhu. To see more of Lise’s artwork, click here.
Dog sleeps safe from rain, / nestled in blankets, my feet / warm up, beneath her
Over the past several months we’ve highlighted many fine haiku written by our contributors about the weather and the change of seasons in Central New York. Our accompanying featured posters beautifully underscore and accentuate the fine work we receive. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading these poems as well as the few highlighted here today.
And, remember, as we move from snow to rain this season, keep this cheerful haiku, written by Michelle Miles (Amman, Jordan 2016), in mind:
March into April, Shed the outer cloak, breathe and Take the umbrella….
Springing forward this year, Daylight Savings Time brought with it the unusual surprise and delight of a full moon appearing twice over two evenings!! Our beautiful moon was equally full on the evenings of March 11 and 12.
This curious lunar event brings to mind the enchanting haiku poster from our 2002 Series. A collaboration of words by poet, Bryan Wilbur, and art by former Syracuse University Illustration Student, Andy Walker, the poster reflects the view outside on this wintry March evening on the cusp of Spring.
Syracuse’s crows / laugh as a fairy ringed moon / paints the frozen peace
What began in 1926 as the brainchild of Carter G. Woodson’sNegro History Week, Black History Month was decreed a national observance in 1976 by then President Gerald Ford to honor and celebrate the many accomplishments and contributions of Black Americans throughout our history. It was not lost on its tireless proponents that Black History Month be celebrated in February – the month in which two of the most iconic figures in the history of slavery in our country were born: Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.
Although he settled in Rochester in 1847, Frederick Douglass made several trips to Syracuse between 1840 and 1870. In August of 1850, he lectured on the evils of slavery during a stop at Syracuse City Hall — he was on his way to nearby Cazenovia for the Fugitive Slave Law Convention which he helped organize.More information about his travels through Syracuse, as well as a look at a rare daguerreotype of Mr. Douglass during this time, can be found at the Onondaga Historical Association on Montgomery Street, Syracuse.
From our 2008 Series, our featured haiku poster is a fitting tribute to Frederick Douglass and Black History Month here at Syracuse Poster Project. With Bryan Wilbur’s fine haiku as its centerpiece, the wonderful depiction of Frederick Douglass was illustrated by artist, David Hicock, a Syracuse University Instructor of Film in the Department of Transmedia and owner of Animotion, Inc.
Frederick Douglass / spoke as cheering thousands sang / under this same sky
Hope you’ve enjoyed this brief connection between haiku, Syracuse and Black History Month!
We’re celebrating Valentine’s Day here at Syracuse Poster Project with a newly designed–and, free–Valentine’s Day Card! Since we began issuing Valentine’s Day cards in 2013, we’ve had some beauties, but we’re especially happy with this one by Naomi Masingale. Naomi is our Outreach Intern for the Spring Semester. She graduated from Pratt with a degree in Communication Design and Illustration and is currently working on her Master’s Degree in Arts Administration at Le Moyne College.
You can find Naomi’s Valentine’s Day Card here. If you’re the do-it-yourself type, you can download any of our other specially designed cards here and print them yourself. You’ll have a PDF of an 8.5 x 11-inch sheet, which you can trim and fold into a 5 x 7-inch card. Writing a haiku to your special someone couldn’t be easier!
And, as haiku is our forte, we have searched our archives for words of Love that might inspire your own! Here, we re-post some haiku from our 2016 Valentine’s blog.
Oubon Phommanyrath’s (Syracuse 2013) haiku transcends the ordinary with her thoughtfully chosen words:
I chase the song of life. My heart knows the hidden path, where love finds me.
Kathryn Hammer (Syracuse 2015) speaks tenderly of love with her endearing haiku:
Love, come sit by me The sun is tucking in now My shoulder is yours
Marilyn Shelton (Dunmore 2003) engages us in a stolen moment of love with her charming haiku:
Young opera moon, you caught us stealing kisses Under red awnings!
Sandra Hewett’s(Syracuse 2014) haiku nicely sets the scene for a romantic evening shared with a loved one:
Candles glow brightly On the table as we eat– Faces full of love
Speaking of romance, it might be snowy and cold outside, but our featured 2007 Syracuse Poster Project haiku poster is sure to warm you on this St. Valentine’s Day. The poet: long-time Syracuse haiku contributor, Robert Gaurnier, and former Syracuse University Illustration student, Bret Supranowicz, now working in New York City as a designer and illustrator; he is also the Creative Director at Xtreme Time Inc..
Beneath many stars / diners feast on sweet music / in Armory Square
If you are still stuck for ideas to give your Valentine, check out our Pinterest Board, where another of our volunteers, Naomi Coufal, has cleverly gathered together several romance-themed posters from our archives for easy viewing and shopping.
The promised light of December’s Winter Solstice seems to have temporarily disappeared behind grey clouds this January in Central New York. Along with cold temperatures, lingering patches of icy dirty snow have also made for some rather bleak days here. But for the brief moments of morning sun, or the colorful flight of cheerful Cardinals and noisy Blue Jays, cloudy skies remain the dominant trademark of Winter in Syracuse. While a backdrop of grey is not wholly unexpected this time of year, we certainly could use some clear, blue skies!
As you might expect, writing haiku brings a whole new perspective to cloudy and grey. And, it’s a perfect antidote for cabin fever. Digging through our archives of wonderful haiku contributed over the years by Central New York poets, we found a few which might give you pause to reflect before going completely stir-crazy!
Frequent Syracuse Poster Project contributor, Jay Cox (Pompey 2007), vividly taps into our search for blue skies while braving the cold on a wintry Syracuse day:
Blue sky illusions scrape Winter’s gray haze—slogging numb down Salina
Pamela Lynch’s (Oneida 2013) graphic haiku brings an artist’s eye to this discussion of grey Winter skies which can indeed be quite stunning at times:
Fronts collide to paint Phenomenal cloud skyscapes Swirling overhead
From Elizabeth Patton (Elbridge), the ominous feeling of another impending storm is quite striking in this evocative 2005 haiku:
Iron sky holding back the snow; the roar of rail cars, then grave quiet
Snow sweeps the sidewalk / Piles fluff onto bare branches / Turns gray to glisten
Frequent Syracuse Poster Project contributor, Sherry Chayat (Syracuse), finds both beauty and a kind of acceptance of Winter’s hold on us with her captivating 2009 haiku:
geese skim the river as clouds gather overhead bittersweet season
Hope you’ve enjoyed these few samplings from our archives. It’s wonderful how writing Haiku provides a way of expressing deep emotions and seeing nature from a variety of perspectives with just a few words. So, when Winter’s grey is making you blue, write a Haiku!
It’s only the first month of Winter, and already, it’s cold, grey and snowy! But, inbetween thick bursts of Lake Effect snow, we’ve had occasion to soak in brief periods of sunshine. Sometimes, just seeing blue sky is enough to warm up and brighten one’s mood, but overall, it’s been just plain cold! Living with snowy, cold Syracuse Winters has been the subject of numerous haiku contributed by Central New York poets. We’ll try to warm you up with a few of them!
Despite the cold, getting outdoors is one way to tackle Winter. Can you picture yourself in Rachel Brown’s (Baldwinsville, 2008) fine haiku?
I bundle up warm laced up tight, feet on the ice, the cold air at me
As cold as it is, sometimes, just standing in the falling snow can be something wonderful. Syracuse poet, William Neumire’s (2012) haiku beautifully depicts such an occasion:
Snow in lamplight stills the streets until we all stop and reach out our hands
Our featured poster from our 2007 Series exemplifies ‘cold’ in its many forms. By using the proximity of Clinton Square’s Ice Skating rink with Syracuse’s Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, Skaneateles poet and regular contributor to the Syracuse Poster Project, Mary L. Gardner, paints a vivid picture. Former Syracuse University Illustration student, Chris Casciano, now a professional Illustration Artist, beautifully captures the essence of Mary’s words with his poster.
Sculpted heroes stand / guard on the icy square where / cold blades dart and glide
Baldwinsville poet and frequent Syracuse Poster Project contributor, Martin Walls (2012), finds warmth in one of Winter’s many sounds:
Snowflake settles on The skating rink with the sound Of children laughing
And, Jay Cox’s(Pompey, 2001) haiku vividly describes a typical Winter’s day in Syracuse:
Skaters swirl around Clinton Square—Lake Effect snow blankets the city
This Holiday Season, Central New York has been white, grey and cold! Fortunately, December traditionally warms us up a bit as it sparkles with the twinkling glow of Menorah Candles, the soft gleam of red, black and green Candles of Kwanzaa, and with the brightly colored lights wrapped ‘round a freshly cut Yuletide Tree. As Teddi Caltabiano (Liverpool 2011) writes:
Sidewalks gleam Holiday lights softly shine Christmas in the ‘Cuse
A nighttime drive through Syracuse’s snowy streets can indeed be a visual delight. Varicolored Christmas lights and decorations adorn neighborhood lawns, lampposts, doorways and rooftops. Lit up Christmas Trees can be spied through curtained windows and storefronts, too. From our 2004 Series of Posters, artist Elizabeth Crosby beautifully captures such a scene using poet, Beth Miller’s captivating words:
A Christmas Tree glows / Through windows of memory / Jasper Street – my home
A drive around Clinton Square on a snowy December night will make you smile, too, as warmly dressed ice skaters, laughing and singing, fly past the City’s brightly lit Christmas Tree. This giant of a tree is covered from top to bottom with glistening lights of red, blue, green, yellow! It’s the perfect backdrop for the Square’s rink as delightfully imagined in this poster from our 2003 Series. The haiku was written by frequent Syracuse Poster Project contributor, Robert Gaurnier and illustrated by former Syracuse University Illustration student, Erick Ledesma, now a busy Studio Artist living in his homeland of Puerto Rico.
around Clinton Square / flakes of falling snow dissolve / on Christmas tree lights
And, lest we forget, Nan Gartner (Fayetteville 2010) reminds us of the warm light of the moon, too:
December snowflakes Fall by moonlight on late night strollers in the square
Wishing you a cornucopia of good wishes for a healthy, happy and bounteous Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend with all the trimmings, warmth and comforts of the season.
The color, Orange, is alive and well in Central New York. Visually beautiful, Orange is the height of the season this year. Shades of Orange–from Yellow-Orange to Red-Orange, light Orange to deep, nearly Brown-Orange–still dress many trees here. But look around, and you will see blankets of Orange covering wooded stands of near-naked trees, carpeting front lawns and backyards, raked high on neighborhood curbs, stuck in the tangle of low, fading bushes, crowded into window-well corners, plugging up gutters. Drive in the howling rain and Orange comes slapping at your windshield and paints the roadway slick!
Bright Orange Pumpkins have been a smash hit this year, too–no pun intended! Add to this their colorful family members, Gourds and Squashes, we now have a lush harvest, too. Syracuse Poster Project haiku contributor, Jean Somlo (DeWitt 2014), affirms this plenteous season of Orange with her evocative poem:
Farmer’s bounty here Colorful and succulent Cooks delight tonight
Meanwhile, up on the Syracuse University Hill and all along the Orange Corridor, the color Orange dominates playing fields aplenty! Frequent Syracuse Poster Project haiku contributor, Paul Goat Allen (Camillus), adeptly wraps it up with his rich 2001 haiku:
autumn’s golden shine harvest, sweet corn and football the orange city
What better way to celebrate the season of Orange than with this splendid haiku poster from our 2015 collection. The poet: Christopher Caskey (Sicklerville 2011) and the artist: former Syracuse University Illustration Student, Rob Byers now a freelance illustrator and designer.
Leaves raked–a mile high. Young ones dive, imagining football field of glory.
What inspires you as Autumn leaves fall? What connotations does the color Orange instill in you? Write your thoughts in a haiku and add it to the comments below. We’ll publish your haiku here on our blog!
Every year, it seems, we assure ourselves that Autumn will be as colorful as the year before–our memory clearly remembering the rich Fall colors of years past. With such a dry, hot Summer of 2016, the theory was there’d be no color to witness this Fall. Thankfully, that didn’t happen! We think you’ll agree, this year, Autumn in Central New York has surely outdone itself what with its brilliant and long-lasting shades of red, red-orange, orange and golden yellow–even shades of mauve dressing the leaves of certain trees!
In fact, many of Central New York’s old, towering trees, some with their trunks draped in red kudzu, make for beautiful canopies along local byways and highways. Their striking colors, comforting in their familiarity, seem as warm as blankets! This feeling is delightfully described in Sally Lloyd’s (Cazenovia 2010) haiku:
Autumn rolls out quilts along Route 20 . . . Yellows reds, golds warm our hearts
These last several days of October can be felt in this picturesque haiku by William Padgett (New Woodstock, 2008):
Frequent Syracuse Poster Project haiku contributor, Bethaida Gonzalez (Syracuse 2014) and former Syracuse University Illustration Student, Anna Ellis, combined their love of Autumn in this charming poster from our 2015 series.
Autumn winds comfort / spreading scents of the season / like an ocean breeze
Sea oats shimmer gold in October’s dimming light waves in Autumn wind
And, from Peggy Liuzzi (Syracuse 2010), a somewhat nostalgic perspective of Autumn:
I miss you most when the Autumn skyway sings with the calls of wild geese
Autumn–it is a season of color, earthy smells and the rustling sounds of leaves flying. What is your favorite sensory experience of this season? We’ve chosen only a few of the many beautiful haiku we have in our archives about Fall to share with you here–write us your thoughts in the comments below and we’ll share them in the next blog.
The Autumn Equinox arrived quietly last week, and as if on cue, end-of-September days have become cooler and starry nights, longer. From the Syracuse Poster Project archives, our haiku contributors have found interesting ways to describe Summer’s prelude to Fall.
Syracuse Poster Project contributor, Maggie Iribarne (DeWitt 2012) observes this seasonal passage of time with her evocative haiku:
Green gorge glimmering Summer’s last cold splash summons Fall’s red-gold promise
And, Sharon Rorer (Syracuse 2007) gently describes how the days following the Equinox tend to be around here:
Single Leaves flutter on delicate air currents still feels like Summer
Meanwhile, Deirdre Tait’s (Syracuse 2013) haiku vividly describes what many of us look forward to with the coming of Autumn:
Rolling hills surround orchards hold the gift of Fall crisp, juicy goodness
Our featured haiku poster is from the 2015 collection. Illustrated by former Syracuse University Illustration Student, Gabrielle Bittel, (now a Central New York-based concept artist), the poster beautifully complements the colorful haiku written by Roseanne Olszewski.
Golden crimson leaves / Infused with sunlight hue–fall / blazing my pathway
For many of us, it’s sad to see Summer leave. But, as Mary Cappelli (Syracuse 2013) writes, there is beauty in the leaving:
a new slant of light butterflies flit in gold leaves– So long, sweet Summer!
And finally, for this blogger, a delightfully straightforward haiku from Angelina Allen (Camillus 2014), the young daughter of frequent Syracuse Poster Project contributor, Paul Goat Allen, pretty well sums it up:
Summer is over the first day of school is here leaves fall from the trees
How do you feel about the Autumn Equinox? Can you put your feelings about this change of season into a haiku? Leave us your thoughts in the comments below–we’d love to hear from you!
The end of August can be somewhat bittersweet: The warm, lazy days of Summer are slowly becoming a sweet memory. Parents, students and teachers are gearing up for a new school year to begin and college campuses have already begun conducting classes. Baseball season is winding down while high school soccer games and football practice are largely underway. But, even though the Great New York State Fair and Labor Day officially mark the end of the Summer season, Summer stays with us until September 21! Days remain mostly warm and sunny, the nights a bit cooler. And, although tall, golden-eyed Sunflowers have settled back home facing East, there remain colorful songbirds at the feeder and the hum of cicadas and crickets are still lulling us to sleep.
This time of year clearly resonates with many of our haiku contributors who savour this slow transition to Autumn. Sheila Forsyth’s (Fayetteville 2014) haiku says goodbye to Summer with a beautiful image:
Evening cricket plays farewell to Summer on its hind leg violin
As does Ellen Barnes’ (Syracuse 2014) haiku:
Sunflower faces A swoosh of yellow and black: Goldfinch dinnertime
And, Jay Cox (Pompey 2010) pays homage to Summer’s end with this expansive and thoughtful haiku:
Monarch butterflies dance with fading wildflowers as the sun slides low
We wanted to share with you a series of delightful haiku posters from our collection which clearly display these final “daze” of Summer. Enjoy!
Hitchcock and Cassetti
DiCaprio-Lee and Cedeno
Walls and Ryan
From our 2009 Series, Artist: Q. Cassetti and Poet: David Hitchcock who writes: “Although I’m often inspired by the interplay of sound and thought, I also write about my own experiences and try to put into words memories that will resonate with others. In these poems, I want people to say, “Yes, I remember that feeling.” I also think a little humor can open them to thoughts that they may not have had otherwise. So here the poem opens with a little humor, two puns in four words. Then it becomes slightly nostalgic, remembering summer as a child, and how fast it goes, and how baseball games and swimming can remind us of that time. There’s all that in just three little lines.
Chiefly close to home, / catching fast flying Summer / in a baseball mitt.
As it’s done every mid-August since 2001, Syracuse Poster Project has announced its annual call for Haiku for its upcoming 2017 season. Entering its 16th year, Syracuse Poster Project invites you to participate in this annual call for Haiku. Consider this as an opportunity to contribute to the culture of our City–as your submitted haiku has the chance of becoming an illustrated haiku poster!
In fact, if your haiku is chosen to be illustrated by a senior Syracuse University Illustration student, it will be on display for one year following our unveiling event in April! Each of our illustrated haiku posters uniquely enhances downtown Syracuse: mounted in the City’s colorfully painted kiosks, Syracuse Poster Project posters celebrate the area’s four distinct seasons, our favorite Syracuse area pastimes, our community celebrations and events. Our posters, like our mission, continue to bridge art and poetry within our community and with our Central New York neighbors.
This year’s call for Haiku is especially noteworthy as we are also paying special tribute to the Erie Canal’s 200th birthday! Officially, the commemoration of this notable bicentennial of the historic Canal begins in 2017. Syracuse–and many of the towns, cities and villages along the Erie Canal Corridor–will be hosting events and festivities to celebrate this iconic landmark. Coincidentally, Syracuse has the distinguished honor of hosting the World Canals Conference in September 2017. Learn more about the Erie Canal here; about the NYS Canal Corporation which manages the Canal here.
You can contribute to the Canal’s bicentennial festivities by writing a haiku to complement our special Erie Canal poster! Displayed below, this colorful poster was commissioned for our special tribute by Tong “Amy” Su, a graduate student in the Syracuse University Illustration Program. If the Erie Canal, its history and its future intrigue you, consider submitting a haiku to complement Su’s charming poster! Visit our website for entry materials and further information here.
If you are new to Syracuse Poster Project, the 2017 poster series will consist of 15 posters created the traditional way (poem first, illustration second) and one special poster created the reverse way (illustration first, poem second). Poets may submit up to three haiku to the traditional contest and one haiku to complement the Canal poster. We request that your Haiku have three lines of 5, 7, 5 syllables; no need for title lines. Need inspiration on writing haiku? Look here for our wide selection of books on writing haiku, books about haiku artists, and compilations of our own archived haiku contributed by Central New York poets.
The entry deadline for your haiku is Sept. 9. Poets will be notified if their haiku was selected for a poster in early December. Our unveiling event happens in mid-April–and what a fun evening it is!
To download an entry form, click here. To download the Call-For-Haiku brochure, click here.If you would like to download a sample of the Ms. Su’s Canal poster, click here.If you are an elementary and / or secondary school teacher, we would love to hear from you and your students, too! Several posters have featured student poems and we enjoy the vision and spirit of student work. If you have your class participate, please help with the selection work. For each class, send us the best five haiku. Thank you.
And, don’t forget, all our posters are for sale on our website, here. You will also find them on display locally as our traveling exhibit brightly lines the walls of area restaurants, cafes and college campuses.
Summer. Long days. Blue skies. Bright evening stars. Among its simple pleasures: the sweet cacophony of birdsong, the laughter of children playing, the chirping of crickets lulling us to sleep.
Many of our archived haiku reflect these simple joys of Summertime. Here are a few of them!
Syracuse Poster Project haiku contributor, Dianne Apter (Syracuse 2011) offers up a delightful poem which warmly embraces one such Summer treasure – the company of friends:
Old-older-oldest Summer’s eve front porch sitters Wine-laughter-gossip
And, Jacquelyn Green’s (Syracuse) 2015 haiku cheerfully evokes a Summer treasure that never gets old:
Dreaming of Summer. Double Dutch, hopscotch and friends. Good times and laughing.
For some, nothing says Summer like chasing Fireflies! Their magical flight, on a starry Summer night, can still take us by surprise. As part of our 2015 Syracuse Poster Project collection, our featured poster beautifully reflects a childhood we can still remember when we chased a brightly lit Firefly. Eloquently written in 2014 by frequent contributor, Thomas Stock, this charming poster was illustrated by former Syracuse Illustration Student, Sophia Openshaw, now a freelance illustrator from Annapolis, Maryland.
Fireflies blink brightly / Caught in jars of summer dreams / Where I once left them.
We’ll leave you with this 2014 haiku by Syracuse native and poet, Martin Willitts, Jr. He writes vividly of another Summer treasure which certainly cannot be denied:
Summer night concert Black crickets on violins Bullfrogs on bassoons
What do you treasure about Summertime? Let us know in the comment section below or on our Facebook page! And, don’t forget, if you see a poster you would like to own for your home or office, visit our Shop page!
February may be the iconic month of Winter Celebrations. There’s Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday, the first lunar day of the Chinese New Year, and Winterfest. February is also Black History Month.
I am from the hood / The hood did not enslave me / I am my master
I have no boundaries / In this city of my birth / I, too, roam freely
It may surprise you to learn that the celebrated American author, Richard Wright (1908 – 1960), also wrote haiku – thousands of them! Better known for his novels, (Native Son, Uncle Tom’s Children), short stories and non-fiction (Black Boy), his haiku were written between 1959 and 1960 – the last year of his relatively short life. A collection of his haiku was first published in 1998 as Haiku: This Other Worldand again in 2012 as Haiku: The Last Poetry of Richard Wright. We’ve chosen a few of these beautiful pieces to share with you. We think you’ll agree, they aptly celebrate both Winter and February!
Standing in the field I hear the whispering of Snowflake to snowflake
Grey skies got you feeling blue? Does it seem there’s not much more to Winter in CNY than the grey skies that tend to dominate our wintry landscape? Well, our frequent haiku contributors have offered up some colorful images that may cheer you up.
Take, for instance, this joyful haiku by Michele Reed (Oswego, 2002):
Red scarf, blue mittens A blur of color through snow– Clinton Square skaters
Or, Ellen Wheeler’s (Fayetteville, 2015) mirthful haiku:
Evergreens wearing their coats of wintery white– time for snow angels!
If the site of blackened roadside snowbanks distresses you, look in the radiant direction of Joan Loveridge-Sanbonmatsu’s (Syracuse, 2006) haiku:
Chunks of ice melting in the cold silver-blue lake Snow lilies floating
Or, look up, and you might see this glowing image as written in a haiku by Jay Cox (Pompey, 2005):
Icicles glitter and clouds shadow now-cloaked hills in a full moon’s light
There is so much to see in white, falling snow, too. Take this beautifully vivid haiku by Laura Ferrel (Skaneateles, 2014):
Snow spins through streetlights, delicate silver threads of downtown’s winter cloak.
Besides white, of course, David Hitchcock’s (Fayetteville 2008) haiku reminds us of another familiar color we’ll find on a snowy day:
In the Salt City a yellow snow plow sows salt as our town grows cold
Our featured image, part of the 2013 Syracuse Poster Project collection, is a vibrant and rich reminder of all the color that can be found on a dreary Winter’s day. Illustrated by former Syracuse University Illustration student, Carolyn Glavin and poet, Janice Scully, this haiku poster is certain to cheer.
Hope you enjoyed a pleasant Thanksgiving Holiday. It’s been only a handful of days, really, since the last of the leftovers was eaten and the office email back under control. And during this relatively short period of time, meanwhile, we’ve endured Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and GivingTuesday! If you’re worn out already, you’re not alone!
Having trouble finding poetic inspiration from a good sale? Look no further than your favorite electronic device. Whether it’s an iPhone, an Android, an iPad, a laptop or a desktop, there are plenty of websites and apps out there to help nudge your creative juices flowing again during this somewhat stressful time of year!
For instance, Poets & Writers, a not-for-profit organization, offers a variety of online tools and services for writers including their excellent source of inspiration, The Time is Now E-Newsletter. Delivered straight to your online mailbox, the e-newsletter offers weekly Poetry, Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction prompts intended to kick-start your imagination.
HaikuJAM is a relatively new app whose approach is a little different – rather than working by yourself to come up with a complete haiku, HaikuJAM offers you an interesting opportunity to collaborate with other writers to help you create – and finish – a unique piece of poetry.
There are hundreds of poetry blogs out there, too. Rattle: Poetry for the 21st Century, mentioned on these pages before, offers interesting reading and thematic challenges including, an Ekphrastic Challenge – Art Inspiring Poetry. Similar to our annual Syracuse Poster Project Challenge, Rattle issues a monthly challenge using paintings or photographs to inspire poetry. Results are fascinating!
You are likely to find inspiration right here at Syracuse Poster Project, too. Thanks to the creative work of our own database development intern, Yingxue Xiao, we recently introduced Haiku Of The Day on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Reading these daily selections is a wonderful opportunity to read, reflect and become inspired.
Thanksgiving Day–a day steeped in tradition, handed down to us from our nation’s original immigrants in celebration of a bountiful harvest. However you spend this Thanksgiving Day…
….whether in the smallest of gestures, as exemplified simply in Mary Taitt’s (Grosse Pointe Farms, MI) 2001 haiku:
To eat stale bread and coo small thanks, pigeons gather at our elder’s feet
….manning a soup kitchen, as frankly described in Silvia de la Garza’s (Manlius NY) 2011 haiku:
black and white faces awaiting the noon-day meal and Samaritans
….spending the day outdoors, as cleverly described in Linda Liddiard’s (Moravia, NY) 2010 haiku:
Oak leaves drift softly, Men on fields in bright colors. Tight spirals land hard.
….or gathering around the dining room table with family and friends, as vividly described in Anne Mackenzie’s (Homer NY) 2014 haiku:
Kinfolk gathering Pepper specks on buttered corn Black starlings scatter
“Off the earth’s long contour, her river-veins” Environmental art installation by Alastair Noble.
As you’ve seen by our recent posts, Autumn can be a sensory experience inspiring thoughtful haiku and beautiful art. Autumn can also be a peaceful time whether it’s reflecting the dramatic change of view outside your window or wandering through a wooded park or sanctuary. But, it’s not just about haiku. Poets, artists, musicians, scientists, writers—all of us, really—have something to say about nature and its effects on us.
Sunset along the Old Erie Canal—the stone wall at Cedar Bay Park.
Locally, you can discover art and poetry in nature by walking any of the trails along the Old Erie Canal. The rough, hand-hewn stone bridges and aqueducts built by our immigrant ancestors are still a thing of beauty…as are the walkways and paths along which one can still become inspired by the surrounding natural beauty of the old waterway. Or, you might find the Stone Quarry Hill Art Park in Cazenovia more to your liking. With beautiful vistas and inspiring installation art, the park offers many opportunities for your inner artist or poet to come alive.
Speaking of installation art, you may remember Christo and Jeanne-Claude, whose masterful displays continue to inspire thoughtful reflection. If you had the opportunity, you’ll agree that the singularly unique experience of walking through their 2005 installation of The Gates in Central Park was exhilarating!
If you have travel plans over the holidays, or even next Spring, check out the more subtle experience of installation art found at the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock, Vermont. In 2013-14, the park’s artist-in-residence, Alastair Noble, installed environmentally styled works throughout the park. Consisting of ten large ash and pine logs—planed on one side—Noble inscribed them with fragments of literature and poetry using Poe, Nietzsche, T.S. Eliot, Wittgenstein, and Shakespeare as his inspiration. As you walk around the park, you come across the logs here and there—at first impression, mere logs. It’s delightful how they turn up randomly, and the brevity of their inscriptions reminds us of haiku. This incompleteness invites a kind of filling in, especially in association with the natural setting. For a newspaper story about Noble’s art residency, CLICK HERE.
If you like your environmental poetry more fleshed out, you can also hike around the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Park’s Robert Frost Poetry Trail. Thirteen poems—complete and presented in conventional page-like formats—line the walking trail. They seem a little like homework assignments dogging you into the woods. One wonders what Frost himself would say about these woodland installations. Would he prefer them here to, let’s say, his poems printed on subway placards?
We are, of course, very proud of our own distinctive version of installation art. Our beautifully illustrated haiku posters can be found year round in the many brightly decorated kiosks dotting downtown Syracuse NY. If you like discovering poetry in the environment, or are fascinated by installation art, send us your photos and thoughts—we’ll share them here with our followers.
It’s Halloween night. In a few hours, Daylight Savings Time ends and Autumn drifts more quickly towards late Fall. Leaves that just last week were peaking in glorious color have now mostly fallen, leaving trees bare. And if the wind doesn’t blow them down the hill and off your lawn soon, you’ll need to go out there and rake them up in the morning!
While the world around us is going through its seasonal changes, this time of year can sometimes be a bit melancholy—summer has clearly ended, leaves on trees are mostly gone, the weather is colder and wetter, you need a sweater when you leave the house, and winter is not too far behind. But, Fall can also be a colorful opportunity for peaceful reflection, long invigorating walks, breathing in deep the smell of crisp clean air and listening gladly to the memorable sound of crunching leaves underfoot.
Syracuse poet, Amy Nicholson, contributed this skillfully written adieu to a blessedly gorgeous October in 2010:
Round apples, red leaves Snowflakes on jack-o-lanterns Fade to November
Frequent Syracuse Poster Project haiku contributor, Rosalyn Carroll, (Manlius NY) deftly describes in her 2012 haiku, a carefree, joyful moment that can only happen in late Autumn:
As I run through it, a blanket of red, gold leaves dances behind me
Another of our favorite posters which beautifully captures Autumn’s peaceful essence was created for the 2007 Syracuse Poster Project year. It was written by frequent Syracuse Poster Project haiku contributor, Claire Bobrycki (Syracuse) and illustrated by former Syracuse University Illustration student Lucas Slominski, now an artist for ZeniMax Online Studios in Maryland.
Breathe in–step, crunch, look. Red, gold, orange, brown–breathe out. Fall in Syracuse
In 2008, Syracuse Poster Project haiku contributor, William Padgett, (Woodstock NY) wrote this vivid poem, beautifully echoing Autumn’s last hurrah:
Apples, Apples, Apples! Nothing says Autumn better than apples–Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Cortland, Cameo, Paula Red, Granny Smith, Gala, Ginger Gold, Macoun, McIntosh, Empire, Fuji, Jonamac, Jersey Mac–take your pick! Red, green, soft, firm or crisp, there is nothing like the sweet essence of fresh Autumn apples. Add a little sugar–maybe some flour and butter, too–and you have apple crisp, apple fritters, apple sauce, apple pie and apple donuts. Of course, don’t forget sweet or hard apple cider, apple wine, even apple vodka! Need we say more?
Well, yes, actually…our local poets have plenty to say about apples, too! Digging through our archives, we found several haiku from our contributors. We thought we’d share a couple with you including this artfully written haiku by Sallie Bailey (Fayetteville NY) in 2010. If you’ve ever driven south on I-81 towards Lafayette and Beak and Skiff Apple Orchards, you’ve seen this remarkably beautiful scene!
South of the city Orchards unfold like carpetsPatterned with apples
Kathleen Nyzio’s (Skaneateles NY) charming 2011 haiku deftly describes the sensory effects apples can have on us–even in our dreams and memories!
Sweet apple orchards Cinnamon spice flooded dreams Wake me up, autumn!
And since we’re speaking today of apples, we could not resist (no pun intended) revisiting this gorgeous 2004 Syracuse Poster Project haiku poster. The poet: frequent Syracuse Poster Project haiku contributor, Peggy Liuzzi. The artist, former Syracuse University Illustration student, Morgan McArdle, now a storyboard artist and illustrator living in Sherman Oaks, CA.
Like Eve in Eden I wander apple-lush hills dreaming my first bite
Whether apple picking or baking an apple pie with your mother, whether a warm memory of hot cider after raking fallen leaves or bobbing for apples at a Halloween party, apples and Autumn go hand-in-hand. We think you’ll agree, Marilyn Shelton’s (Baldwinsville NY) 2005 haiku exquisitely captures Autumn’s many treasures:
Twilight’s harvest sky Frames apple boughs, pumpkins, drifts of leaves. We are home.
By now, you’ve no doubt noticed the hundreds of fallen Autumn leaves blanketing your yard! A beautiful, summer-like Columbus Day weekend, was bookended by slate-grey skies and stormy weather. Wind, rain and mostly cloudy skies have been the norm ever since. With the wind howling and blowing so hard at times, one would think Hurricane Joaquin had decided to stay in Syracuse for a few days! Leaves have been flying all about like heavy snowflakes, slapping windshields and office windows, scurrying across busy roadways, drifting against sidewalk curbs, piling up into small colorful mounds inside window wells and under porch steps. Along with the wind, cold rain has left roads slick with wet fallen leaves, covering neighborhood lawns and city streets. Fall has most certainly made a landing here in Syracuse!
If you’ve been out and about during any of these storms, we think you will agree: this 2007 Syracuse Poster Project publication vividly describes a scene you may have witnessed in your travels. The poem was written in 2001 by Syracuse’s Sherry Chayat; the artist, former Syracuse University Illustration student, Maria Teresa Madariaga, a freelance illustrator from New York.
Geese Honking Southward Over Onondaga Creek– Whirling Dervish Leaves
Pompey poet, and Syracuse Poster Project contributor, Jay Cox, richly captured a similar blustery scene with his 2006 haiku:
A world of faces congregates at a crosswalk— leaves pass in the wind
Another of our archived haiku, which splendidly reflects Autumn’s ofttimes tempestuous weather, was written in 2008 by Jungtae Lee of Syracuse:
Winds gather the clouds the city moves through the leaves my collar goes up
What moves you when stormy Autumn weather brews up a howling wind? Write us your thoughts in the comments – we’d love to hear from you!
Have you noticed all the playful scarecrows and plump pumpkins on your drive into work these first few weeks of Autumn? They seem to be everywhere–decorating lamp posts and porch steps and cheering up many a cloudy morning. And don’t forget those towering sunflowers and short colorful mums wherever you look!
We found this lovely tribute to early autumn sunflowers in our archives. It was written in 2007 by Syracuse Poster Project contributor, Sharon Rorer of Syracuse, NY:
Lofty sunflowers arrayed in golden splendor heads above the rest
Autumn is undoubtedly transforming the CNY landscape as we say goodbye to Summer. Shorter days, cooler nights have been the most noticeable, with treetops turning red and gold overnight. Elephant’s eye-high corn fields have been mostly cut or built into crazy mazes for Halloween fun, while local pumpkin patches are overflowing with vivid shades of orange.
Using pumpkins as her theme, a 2012 haiku by Syracuse Poster Project contributor, Jane Verostek of Syracuse, New York, charmingly depicts this change in the season:
Sunset awakens winding trails of pumpkin dreams nature is glowing
Our featured Syracuse Poster Project image this week beautifully illustrates autumn’s slow and colorful transformation of the Syracuse area. Created in 2007, the haiku was written by Syracuse, NY poet Sherry Chayat and illustrated by former Syracuse University Illustration student, Emily Lopuch, now an illustrator and aspiring writer living in Rhode Island.
Syracuse Poster Project haiku contributor, Sheila Forsyth of Fayetteville, NY, wrote this touching farewell to Summer in 2011.
Traitor trees with their Turncoat leaves give up summer To winds of autumn
How do you celebrate the arrival of Autumn? Can you sum it up in a Haiku? Send us your haiku in the comments and we’ll publish it here on the Poetry Blog next week!
Back in the Spring of 2014, we announced on our Poetry Blog, the call for submissions of Japanese forms of poetry (including our favorite: Haiku) from Rattle: Poetry for the 21st Century. The results have been published in Rattle #47. You can find this colorful edition at http://www.rattle.com/poetry/print/40s/i47/. Some selections may surprise you!
While the calendar says Autumn, it still feels like Summer in CNY. The sound of crickets has quieted at night and the kids are gone back to school. But the hustle and bustle at your local farmer’s market is still hopping! Last week, we wrote about celebrating the change of seasons with the bountiful harvests found nearly everywhere you turn here in CNY. In fact, you can still gather late summer fruits and vegetables from one of the many fruitful markets dotting Syracuse area communities.
When we did not receive any new Harvest Haiku in response to our last post, we decided to dig a little deeper into our archives of un-illustrated haiku. We came across a few which splendidly reflect these end of September harvest days.
This richly worded haiku was written in 2009 by frequent Syracuse Poster Project contributor, Sherry Chayat, from Syracuse, NY. Can you just picture this singular moment?
in harvested fields geese forage for a last meal then rise up shrieking
Or this haiku? A picture postcard scene you might see on a drive down a country road in CNY! The poem was written in 2014 by Kathleen Pickard from Jordan, NY.
Corridor of corn, Rows of stately sentinels guarding country roads
Another of our favorite haiku posters reflecting our bountiful CNY home was created in this beautiful Syracuse Poster Project illustration in 2003. The poet: Michele Reed. The former Syracuse University illustration student: Sebastian V. Martorana now an artist living and working in Baltimore, MD.
rich purple eggplant vies for space in my basket with summer’s last greens
Lynn McDonald, formerly of Syracuse and now living in Utah, beautifully sums up this week’s thoughts in her 2008 haiku:
harvested corn and red leaves of autumn whisper cornucopia
What is your favorite September moment? Send us your haiku in the comments and we’ll publish it here on the Poetry Blog next week!
One of our primary tenets here at the Syracuse Poster Project is to celebrate our hometown of Syracuse and its CNY neighbors with illustrated haiku. Oftentimes, a change of season in CNY is seen as a time of celebration and offers a wellspring of ideas for many of our haiku contributors.
In fact, the time between late August and mid-September, when purple Asters and Queen Anne’s Lace still line country byways, is also the time we celebrate the region’s bountiful harvests and bid farewell to summer.
Over the years, we’ve received wonderful haiku about this time of year. We recently dug into our treasure trove of un-illustrated poems and found several delightful haiku describing singular moments of this colorful season.
Take this richly imaged haiku, for example, written in 2009 by Syracuse, NY poet, Sherry Chayat:
in harvested fields geese forage for a last meal then rise up shrieking
And this cheerful haiku, written in 2013 by Martville, NY poet, Carol Corwin:
doe with spotted fawn— heads raised above rows of corn ready for harvest
You may have seen some of our harvest themed haiku — beautifully interpreted by our Syracuse University illustration students — as posters in the many kiosks dotting Syracuse’s downtown.
One of our favorite haiku posters of this bountiful CNY season was created in 2014. The haiku was written in 2010 by Manlius, NY poet, Rosalyn Carroll and illustrated by former SU Student, Abbey Lossing, now an art director at Buzzfeed.
What do you like most about this time of year? Send us your Harvest Haiku in the comments and we will publish it here on our Poetry Blog.
A cropped version of Tim Coolbaugh’s dog rescue illustration for the 2016 poster series.
Our annual call for haiku is in full swing until the deadline of Sept. 4. The 2016 poster series will consist of 15 posters created the traditional way (haiku first, illustration second) and one special poster created in reverse (image first, haiku second).
For the special poster, artist Tim Coolbaugh illustrated a dog rescue scene. At first glance, it’s a simple image of a dog in the passenger seat of a car, as seen from the driver’s perspective, with Clinton Square in the background. The back story is more elaborate.
Coolbaugh graduated from the Syracuse University with a master’s degree in illustration and has overseen the illustration program’s symposium. He is also a dog-lover, has owned several rescue dogs, and volunteers as a driver for dog rescue services. He has been helping to transport dogs from kill shelters to places that will find them homes since 2002. He estimates he has helped 2,300 dogs and cats, but mostly dogs.
“Most of the time, I’m a link in a chain,” Coolbaugh said. “Very rarely am I the person who starts the dog off, or who makes a placement in Syracuse. Usually, the dogs are on their way someplace else.”
In Coolbaugh’s typical scenario, dogs are traveling from the south, where kill shelters are prevalent, to destinations in Canada or New England. Each week as many as 12 transports may travel through Syracuse.
Coolbaugh participates in a network of 30 to 40 volunteer drivers. The transports usually take two days, with each driver driving 75 to 100 miles for a rendezvous. Coolbaugh drives on Sundays, and may make two or three runs in a given day.
“What I get out of this is knowing that the animal is safe and is going to have a life,” he said.
The dog that shares its life with Coolbaugh is Velvet, a seven-year old black Lab.
Last year, before joining us as an illustrator, Coolbaugh submitted this haiku:
Driving through the ‘Cuse,
a shelter dog by my side,
a fresh start awaits.
To submit haiku to complement Coolbaugh’s illustration, or haiku for the traditional call for haiku, visit our website.
His haiku was inspired by these memories, as he stated, “…
Our city was named for a beautiful city in Sicily by people who fled there to start a new life; for freedom and a chance to be anything they want to become. Since then, other people from different countries have fled here for different reasons but seeking the same dream. We are their light in the darkness. We are their new home.”
e reproduced 
be sure to look for this year’s posters in the kiosks dotting downtown Syracuse. They’re expected to be on view by May 1. 
