HENRY MOORE
Henry Moore was a smart old cowboy
a smart old cowboy was he
Just as sly as a fox
be bought twenty-foot salt blocks
and set them out in West Texas in winter
Where a thousand strong tongues
changed those basic hard foods
into a bunch of reclining nudes
There are times when it bothers my conscience
to see
them hangin’ around London,
New York, and D.C.
Then I remember old Hank is one of the boys
just suckerin’ some dudes with these toys
So I decide not to chip off the bronze
MONA LISA
I’m so thankful you were there
like a Mona Lisa fair
To show me things I’d never see
and to model for my poetry
Which is not to compare
the artist or the style
But only to confirm again
the value of a smile
FIRST ART PROJECT
It took a long time to pound
a whole keg of brand
new spikes
into the hard ranch yard
A silvery path
paved with shining heads
danced bright in the prairie sun
I stood back young and strong
and proud and knew
that it was beautiful and good
My father thought he had to teach
There was no room for art
in a hard yard
in a hard world
It was a long time before I tried again