The masters all painted <br />Baskets of fruit <br />Why? <br />What is it about fruit <br />That demanded such passionate expression? <br />Was there a lucrative market of fruit lovers to exploit? <br /> <br />Personally <br />Fruit doesn't bake my cake if you know what I mean. <br />Now <br />Naked babes in the grass <br />That <br />I can understand <br />But apples on a dish? <br />What is it they're trying to say? <br />Do they tempt us like Eve <br />'Buy the apple painting, Maude, big, delicious, juicy, red apples on a <br />porcelain white dish. Buy it, buy it, buy' <br />Whisper the artist's serpent strokes. <br /> <br />Or maybe <br />'Twas some deep psychological need <br />That compelled the depiction of <br />Fruit. <br />There they sit <br />Inert <br />In a bowl, or basket or dish. <br />The artist as pear. <br />Brimming life <br />Immobile. <br />Contained within- <br />A precious seed <br />Waiting... <br /> <br /> <br />(Previously published in Art Villa, Aug.1999)<br /><br />Laurence Overmire<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/still-life-7/
