Poetry Posted In Argay

From the April 17th edition of the Oregonian Argay resident Doug Trotter have found a way to bring art into the neighborhood.

"Handyman Doug Trotter was asked by a friend last year to erect a post along the sidewalk of her Klickitat Street home similar to one she had seen while walking on Alameda Street in Northeast Portland. Trotter installed a cedar post set in concrete, put a box on its side big enough to hold a poem behind a clear acrylic window and topped it with a decorative copper lid. His friend wanted to surprise her husband with the post as a wedding anniversary gift, but when the husband returned from a business trip he saw the post from a distance and thought she'd put the house up for sale.

Since then, passers-by have left an origami crane on the post, left self-published books of poetry and asked who made it. Trotter, who charges between $100 and $200 to install a post, set out business cards and soon had five new customers -- enough, he thought, to build a Web site at www.poetryposts.com. "