To Those Who 'Know About' Poetry & Painting! Poem by Roy William Gotaas

Archimedes never wrote poetry
Or scanned for a verse in his bath
And, apart from totting up whisky,
Dylan Thomas was no good at math.

So what makes you think there’s a map or a plan
And how can a teacher possibly tell,
What will give you the key to the poetry man
Or where Bruegel found his visions of hell?


In all the broad scheme of the universe
Only one thing that has no rule:
The muse of the men who make pictures or verse,
Visits a wise man no more than a fool.



N.B. It's said that Thomas knew exactly how many whiskies he had in his last, fatal binge: 16 as I recall?