Boterismo



        The Poet, 1987, by Fernando Botero (b. 1932).
        “Boterismo” is this artist’s signature style of depicting
         obese people cartoonishly, for political commentary
         or for humor; Columbia

I paint a pudgy poet in a glade.
He’s beefy and he’s hungry for the lines
to polish off a sonnet to serenade
his love. His tie’s askew as he reclines
beside his paper, scribbling put aside.
He stares out from the canvas and he broods…   
the muse has flown. He’s moon-faced, beady-eyed,
desperate for the opus that eludes  
him. Maybe I can help him in his courtship.
I’ll paint some peaches dropping from the trees;
he’ll hold one in his chubby-fingered grip.
“So sweet,” he’ll murmur, giving it a squeeze,
imagining his luscious ingénue.
Soon words will fall on him with which to woo.

Barbara Lydecker Crane

 
If you have any thoughts on this poem, Barbara Lydecker Crane would be pleased to hear them.