still life painting 30

( Tom Wesselman  1963 )



in the beginning was Warhol

and Warhol said,

" let us canonize banality &

cast it in our own image, " and it was so

and Andy's spirit moved across the waters

& on the first day

the Oscar Meyer hot dog

covered with French's mustard

stole a .45 out of the top drawer

and shot 6 people for no reason

& on the second

those 3 old fashioned bottles of 7-up

ran away from home

to become can-can dancers in Zeigfield's Follies,

on the third day

the box of Rice Crispies exploded &

on the fourth

the 2 oranges on the window sill got a job

in a Braque painting,

on the fifth day

the Empire State style building outside

went to the Family of Man photo exhibit in D.C.

broke down and cried, on the sixth

that Kellogg's Snack Pack on the table

gossiped among themselves

about the Dole Hawaiian Pineapple

who rumor has it has a love-child

by a nightclub singer named Tony Torch

who threw Dole Hawaiian Pineapple over

for the loaf of Lite Diet, the tramp; of course

the pancakes did not go for that at all &

consulted the side a beef's lawyer

it all got very very messy &

Tony had to call in the Florida Chilled Orange Juice

as a character witness   suffice to say

that little ploy blew up in his face

because the coffee on the stove produced evidence

to the contrary

the Picasso over the refrigerator

was the prosecuting attorney &

nailed Tony Torch's cheap Las Vegas ass

to the outhouse door, thank you

very much