the Wal-Mart artist by Karl Koweski

I purchased the water color set
on clearance at Wal-Mart
a twenty dollar gift set
of paints and brushes and pencils
for the low low price of four dollars

I intended to paint landscapes
like the horse meadow view
from my kitchen window
or the nearby Depression era
sheds and barns, dilapidated,
anonymous by proximity

but when I finally set
brush to paper
it’s only to paint a comic strip
called "Sucking Hind Teat"
chronicling the misadventures
of a luckless factory worker

just as my poetry
devolves into comedic anecdotes,

profundity eludes me
and
I’m left with a big smiley face


Karl Koweski, Alabama, USA