Thursday, October 04, 2007

On Certain Wits

who amused themselves over the simplicity of Barnett Newman’s paintings shown at Bennington College in May 1958

When Moses in Horeb struck the rock,
And water came forth out of the rock,
Some of the people were annoyed with Moses
And said he should have used a fancier stick.

And when Elijah on Mount Carmel brought the rain,
Where the prophets of Baal could not bring the rain,
Some of the people said that the rituals of the prophets of Baal
Were aesthetically significant, while Elijah’s were very plain.

Howard Nemerov (click on his name to get to one place that this poem hides out in the interweb; it also seems to have been posted on a number of blogs - working together, me and Google make it 3 - does that constitute a virtual bandwagon?)