SHORT POEM OF THE 5 IRONICAL ARTS Poem by Luis Vidales

A slender, nimble
statuette,
a twisted bundle
of ironical lines?
Yes.

Some verses
- rhymed or not -
a trapeze
where humour
- a big-headed clown -
unfolds a piroutte?
Yes.

A drawing
by a cross-eyed draftsman,
of a hat
and a pair of booties,
and in the middle a trembling
gentleman
as seen through frosted glass?
Yes.

A jeering rhythm
that comes and crosses through the soul
like a bird
through a place of
variegated landscapes?
Oh! Yes.

Everything very beautiful
and highly recommendable
for ears
of all sizes
and for the grey matter
of any circumference.

But more beautiful
and more recommendable would be
to build a palace
- disproportionate architecture -
in a spiral,
that under the unharmed sky
and without a sign of improvement
would always, always, rise up
slightly ironical
we already know against whom.