William the Poet

7/25/14 Pilot Iroshizuku Asa-gao ink, Canson XL
140 lb. paper

I’d seen him before at various farmers markets and other public places – the young poet who sits at a vintage typewriter, composing on the fly: “Your Poem, Your Price.” This afternoon at Phinney Farmers Market, he spotted me sketching him and then stopped typing, so I encouraged him to keep writing. He asked if I was drawing him, and when I said yes, he said he would write a poem about that experience. Here’s the poem, typed on a small piece of paper:

poem about being drawn

colors perform

rites beyond

the reach of words.

pen moves in

quick sylabols

producing pictures of

universal understanding.

thus carictature

is promoted

to king of

dictionary and

webster is

given a less

valued position

thus giving it a chance

to further

dissolve the either. (or ether)